“Hi, I’m Bryan. Great to meet you!” This sentence, spoken in perfect German, comes from American youth player Bryan Reynolds of FC Dallas, who trained with the FC Bayern reserves and U-19s alongside four other young talents. The German-American exchange was formed as part of the strategic partnership between FC Bayern and FC Dallas of the Major League Soccer (MLS).
This partnership between the German record champions and the MLS founding members was formed in February 2018 and has a focus on the promotion of talent and the exchange of training philosophies. “We’re delighted with the exchange with FC Dallas so far and look forward to further extending this partnership,” said campus director Jochen Sauer. Chris Richards is a player from the Dallas youth academy, now in the FC Bayern reserves squad. The 19-year-old defender has already made 14 appearances for the reserves in Bundesliga 3 this season, picking up a goal from a header along the way. “Chris has grown up with lots of other youth players. He is a prime example of how a player from our youth setup can reach the next step in Germany. Perhaps more will follow. We want to drive forward the partnership with FC Bayern,” said Dallas academy director Chris Hayden, who visited Munich from 12 to 25 November, together with the players, coach Luchi Gonzalez and sporting director Andre Zanotta. “Lots of our players dream of playing in Europe. It’s a brilliant experience to witness a top club like Bayern live,” added Hayden.
The Bayern reserves also visited FC Dallas in the USA.
The four Dallas players Reynolds, Thomas Roberts, Edwin Cerrillo and Ricardo Pepi were joined by David Rodriguez of North Texas SC. In an interview with FC Bayern TV the quintet talked about the differences between German and American football, the FC Bayern campus and their knowledge of German. They are joined in the video by Richards and Taylor Booth. The 18-year-old American midfielder Booth was signed from Real Salt Lake at the start of 2019 and plays for the Munich U19s. “The play is much quicker in Germany and more intense than in the US,” said Booth, while Richards added: “The German leagues are very balanced. There are no easy opponents here.” The young players from Dallas were especially impressed with the campus. Cerrillo commented: “The players live like a family here.” Reynolds added in English: “The atmosphere here is really amazing.”
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