FC Bayern Ambassador Bixente Lizarazu clocked up the air miles last week, travelling first to China and then on to Delhi for the finals of the FC Bayern Youth Cup India. It was the fifth edition of the international youth tournament in India, staged with partners adidas and Lufthansa.
Ten teams from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata qualified for the finals in Delhi fron a series of regional eliminators over the last three months. A total of more than 200 school teams with more than 2,000 players took part in the FC Bayern Youth Cup India. The eventual winners were the team from the Army Public School Bengaluru, who will now play as Team India in the FC Bayern Youth Cup Grand Final at the Allianz Arena on 13 May. The players were joined by Lizarazu and mascot Berni to celebrate their deserved victory.
“It was my first trip to India. I was especially impressed by the warm hospitality and the permanently open and friendly attitude of the people. It was a magnificent weekend in Delhi and a pleasure to observe so many talented young players,” the former France and Bayern left-back enthused. The World and European champion also fulfilled a number of media commitments, supervised training sessions with local kids and shared his experience with young hopefuls.
Another highlight saw FC Bayern’s local fans and fan clubs in India treated to a personal Meet & Greet with Bixente and mascot Berni. This event took place as part of a Public Viewing of FC Bayern’s meeting with Mainz 05 last Saturday evening. To the delight of the gathering of more than 100 fans, Lizarazu arrived bearing the Bundesliga championship shield.
Lizarazu also in China
Before flying to India, Lizarazu made a two-day visit to China as part of the FC Bayern Legend Trophy Tour, spending time with fans in Hangzhou and Nanjing, and keeping a number of local media appointments.