Hamburg  - Bayern Munich were caught out cold on Friday night as they lost 1-0 at SV Hamburg in the Bundesliga restart which lifted the hosts to the top of the table.

Croatia forward Mladen Petric headed the winner seconds before halftime for a courageous Hamburg team which has lost just one of the last eight meetings with the defending champions Munich.

Hamburg were denied twice by the post against Munich, who were far from the form of Tuesday's emphatic 5-1 cup win at VfB Stuttgart but had several chances to equalize in the second half.

Hamburg  - SV Hamburg announced Friday that they have agreed a deal with Venezuela's Deportivo Tachira to take Tomas Rincon on loan until the end of 2009.

The Bundesliga club will pay between 200,000 and 300,000 euros (260,00 to 390,000 dollars) for the services of the 21-year-old midfielder and also have an option to sign Rincon until 2013.

Rincon is seen as a replacement for Dutch international Nigel de Jong, who moved to English Premier League club Manchester City for a fee of 16 million pounds (22 million dollars) last week.

Madrid  - Spanish gi

Hamburg  - TSG Hoffenheim will continue to shine while SV Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen could also pose a threat to Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title ambitions, Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

Speaking ahead of the Friday night Bundesliga restart with the duel between Hamburg and Munich which he will attend, Loew told the Bild daily that he doesn't necessarily expect Bayern to romp to another title.

"Everyone is speaking of Hoffenheim and Bayern, but I rate Hamburg a title contender as well because the team is quite robust. I also consider Leverkusen strong. They will play at the top," Loew said.

Hoffenheim top the league on goal difference over Munich, with Hamburg and Hertha Berlin just two points behind and Leverkusen three.

London, Jan. 30: Italian football club A C MILAN has again stated their desire to sign England football star David Beckham on a permanent basis.

The Sun quoted club boss Carlo Ancelotti as saying: "It''s up to him to decide if he wants to stay. He knows how much we appreciate him here. We would be happy if he remains, but he must resolve the problem with his club (L. A. Galaxy). We all like him but it's difficult to talk about his future now."

Team-mate Andrea Pirlo also lavished praise on the Englishman''s impact.