The worthwhile news about the Litex (Lovech)-Hamburger September 18 UEFA Cup game was not the result itself but the behaviour of the referee. Litex put up a strong performance against the mighty Germans but lost 0:1.

Despite that, Litex has great chances to turn the results around. Hours after the end of the game in Lovech, it turned out that there was a possibility for the game to be replayed. The reason was that Finnish referee Tony Asumaa gave a second yellow card to Hamburger’s Jose Paolo Gerrero, but didn’t disqualify him from the game. UEFA was to ask for a special report on the case and if the referee’s mistake was proven true, a new game would be fixed according to UEFA’s rules.

This means that the fate of the game is in hands of Vladimir Antonov, who was UEFA’s supervisor at the game. His report will determine whether the game is to be replayed.

As for the game itself, Litex had plenty of lessons to draw from their own performance. A 75th-minute goal by Romeo Castelen against the run of play gave the German team their 1:0 victory. If it stays that way, this outcome will almost kill the Bulgarian team’s chances of progressing into the group stages, but if Ferario Spasov’s players gain confidence, they can match bigger teams.

“It was a nervous start for us, but soon we found they are human beings like we are, people with the same heart,” midfielder Stanislav Manolev said. In the first half, both teams seemed intent on protecting their own penalty area. Hamburger created a set of chances, but Castelen’s shot went over while defender Timothee Atouba failed to strike the ball cleanly and goalkeeper Todor Todorov saved easily.

Litex began the second half much the brighter and threatened through their Brazilian winger Tom, who made life difficult for Atouba.

Shooting at a distance, Tom and Fabien Boudarene forced HSV keeper Rost into action. In the 60th minute, Litex captain Robert Popov seemed to get tripped in the box by defender Joris Mathijsen but the referees decided on a clean challenge. After the game, Popov said the referee was probably right not to give a penalty.

Surprisingly, the opening goal was scored at the other end. Hamburger caught Litex on a counter attack, in which Castelen broke into the area from the right and fired a low shot that send the ball into the corner under the outstretched hand of the diving goalie Todorov.

A crowd of about 6000 went furious seven minutes later, when Tom appeared to be fouled in the penalty area, but Asumaa waved away penalty appeals. Later, Hamburger’s sport director Dietmar Beiersdorfer accused the Brazilian of provocative play.

Litex felt robbed but soon they found positives. “We don’t have to feel ashamed, our team made the most of the goal opportunities; the only goal of the game came out of nowhere and a victory for us wouldn’t have been unfair. There’s always hope so we will try to win the return leg in Hamburg on October 4,” Litex coach Spasov said.

“Hamburger is now much closer to the group phase, but we are going to keep our heads held high, come out and compete. At least we showed that the football level in Bulgaria is not bad,” team captain Popov said.