BEIJING, Dec. 18 -- Bundesliga newcomers Hoffenheim have already left their mark in their debut season and hope to become a major force in German football after being crowned "winter champions" last week. The promoted team, who until now have used a rental stadium to hold its support drawn from a village of 3,300 people, lead the standings after 17 matches on goal difference from champions Bayern Munich.

Hoffenheim's Tobias Weis jumps on Vedad Ibisevic (covered) after Ibisevic scored a goal against Cologne during their German first Bundesliga soccer match in Cologne Nov. 22, 2008.

"We are deserved "winter champions," multi-millionaire software pioneer Dietmar Hopp, who has bankrolled the club since the 1990s, told German paper Bild (www.bild.de) on Tuesday.

"If we keep it up... we are a force to be reckoned with. I am not saying we will be champions but we will hang on up there," said Hopp, who will watch his team's second half of the season from a newly-built 30,000 seat stadium.

With a core of players who won promotion and former Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick at the helm, Hoffenheim have excelled on the big stage with their attacking style soccer.

"I would not have believed it if someone would have told me that after 17 matches we would have had 35 points," Rangnick said.

"We cannot take big steps anymore. Now it is all about maintaining that level and improving step by step."

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