Hamburg retain Dubai Challenge

Dubai: Dutchman Rafael Van Der Vaart scored two and became provider for one as Hamburg SV thumped China 4-0 to successfully defend their Dubai Football Challenge trophy here on Saturday night.

The 24-year-old, who is currently the joint second top-scorer in the Bundesliga with nine goals, found the net in the 44th and 54th minutes and provided a perfect cross for Romeo Castelen in the 58th and Paolo Guerrero added a fourth in the 75th to outplay the Chinese completely.

Van Der Vaart, in the news reportedly as a purchase target for Italian giants Juventus, was at the heart of proceedings. Though it was the Chinese coming up with a much improved performance than against the UAE on Thursday, it was Piotr Trochowski lighting up things with a stiff shot that was well saved by Chinese goalkeeper Zhengyu Song.

After another two attempts on goal, Hamburg got their first one a minute from the halftime whistle when Van Der Vaart curled in a free kick from the edge of the box.

China could have restored parity with the second half seven minutes old, but Bo Qu was too much in a hurry with only goalkeeper Frank Rost at his mercy.

Deft skill

Van Der Vaart made the Chinese pay for this lapse as he showed some deft skills in front of goal after receiving a ball from the left and slammed into the roof of the net to make it 2-0 in favour of the German side.

They kept up the pressure and were duly rewarded when Van Der Vaart switched to the right flank and sent in a first-time cross for Castelen to come up with an equally impressive finish.

China's best chance to pull one back came in the 70th minute as Jian Liu moved in menacingly from the left and then placed wide off the goal.

Hamburg got their fourth in the 75th minute as hard-working Guerrero drove his way through the Chinese defence and placed past a stranded Song.

China tried their best to at least attempt a consolation goal in this competition, but it was either sloppy work in front of goal or a general lack of application that proved to be their undoing.

With Hamburg winning both their games, the second match between Vasco da Gama and the UAE proved to be inconsequential as even a win for either side would not alter the result in favour of the Germans.