Created on 16-07-2012 at 00:00 AM
A sea of hands clutching digital cameras filled the pretty square in the harbour area of Riva del Garda on Sunday evening. More than 2,000 fans were gathered in the historic Piazza 3 Novembre, with its almost 800-year-old tower, the famous Torre Apponale. It seemed every single one of the enthusiastic supporters wanted a precious photo of the Bayern stars as they arrived for the reception on a trim sailing ship.
As the FCB party disembarked, they were greeted with euphoric applause. “Many thanks for the friendly welcome! Naturally, it means we have even more of a duty for next season," said Matthias Sammer, speaking from the specially-constructed presentation stage. PA announcer Stephan Lehmann then introduced one by one each of the 23 players who are in Italy for the summer training camp, starting with the club's talented juniors, moving on to new faces such as Xherdan Shaqiri and Claudio Pizarro, through to established Munich men like Daniel van Buyten and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.