FC Bayern are set to ‘Go West’ on 30 July for a nine-day tour of the USA. Pep Guardiola and his team will be based in New York and then Portland/Oregon, as the Bavarians continue a long transatlantic tradition that has seen the Reds play from the East Coast to California and the Great Lakes to Florida. In our three-part archive feature, fcbayern.de recalls the club’s previous trips to the USA over the last 54 years.
Part 2: Miami, Cleveland, New York
1991: Work & fun in the Sunshine State
Stefan Effenberg, Olaf Thon and bus driver Rudi Egerer go deep-sea fishing, Stefan Reuter plays golf and tennis, Klaus Augenthaler in the swimming pool - photos from January 1991 that don't exactly tell the whole story. The trip to Miami was anything but a vacation for the team. Coach Jupp Heynckes decided to prepare his team in the hot Miami sun. It was the first US training camp for Germany's most successful club.
On January 29th, the team traded the German winter for the Sunshine State, Florida. Along with training, the team also had practice matches scheduled there. Part of that included participation in the Miami Cup where Bayern met two national teams. On 1 February Bayern drew 0-0 with Colombia and two days later beat the US 4-0. The third opponent was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, the former club of Gerd Müller. 3,166 were in attendance on 6 February at the Strikers' Lockhart Stadium to watch US national team goalkeeper Tony Meola keep Bayern out and preserve the 0-0 scoreline.
But those weren't the only things that happened in Miami: Roland Grahammer extended his contract, Stefan Reuter confirmed his move to Juventus at the end of the season and both Michael Sternkopf and Thomas Strunz picked up injuries.
1994: Scholl 3 USA 2
Just crowned German champions, Bayern returned to the US in 1994. There, Bayern took park in the World Series of Soccer, a series of matches organized by the US Soccer Federation where international clubs took on the US national team. Because of the World Cup in the US, which was a few weeks away, FC Bayern had to do without several of its players including Lothar Matthäus, Thomas Helmer and Jorginho.
On 21 May in Cleveland, Ohio, Frank Klopas put the US in the lead twice in front of a crowd of 16,492. But Mehmet Scholl didn't want to return back home on the losing side. The Bayern dribbler scored twice to bring the score level before setting up the matchwinner for Christian Nerlinger to make it 3-2.
2001: Hangover in New York
Just 36 hours after Oliver Kahn's's Champions League-winning penalty save, Bayern found themselves at Munich airport but still caught up in their celebrations. "Uiuiui," exclaimed Uli Hoeneß as he met Stefan Effenberg. Carsten Jancker had to stay back as he did not have his passport with him. Even the Champions League trophy stayed behind. "This is not flying with us," commented Hoenß as he offered the trophy to journalists around him, "Can you please return this to Säbener Strasse and to our offices?"
Hungover and fatigued (Alexander Zickler: "We probably have a breathalyzer here. Everyone under two per mil can play"), the team showed up the next day (26 May) at Giants Stadium for Lothar Matthäus' testimonial match against the New York MetroStars. In front of over 30,000 spectators, even assistant coach Michael Henke had to be subbed on.
The result was a 2-0 loss (goals by Clint Mathis and Alex Comas) for the exhausted Champions League winners. "I think that despite the loss we showed character and gave our best. But when you're tired mistakes happen and the MetroStars took advantage of those," commented Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld after the match.
The third and final part of the USA retrospective will be out on Monday, July 28th.
