Samba da Bavaria – the FC Bayern Legends are taking over Brazil. On Friday, Giovane Élber and other FCB heroes departed for South America for the 'HYLO Legends Tour Brazil19'. On Sunday, they’ll be competing in a mini tournament at the Estadio do Morumbi in Sao Paulo against FC Sao Paulo, FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, whose teams include greats such as Cafú, Deco and Júlio César. “We’re really looking forward to it and pumped up for the games,” said Élber. “Everyone knows that football is loved in Brazil like few other places in the world. We’ll do our best to give the fans a great show with good games on behalf of FC Bayern and the Bundesliga. And of course, we want to win the tournament. Mia san mia also applies in Brazil.“
Coach Klaus Augenthaler is taking charge of an illustrious who’s who from Bayern history. As well as Élber, there are other local stars in Lúcio, Zé Roberto, Paulo Sérgio and Bernardo, together with Jörg Butt, Daniel van Buyten, Hans Pflügler, Marcel Witeczek, Ivica Olić, Zvejzdan ‘Zwetschge’ Misimović, Markus Schupp, Andi Ottl, Michael Sternkopf, Luca Toni and FCB youth coaches Tom Starke, Martín Demichelis and World Cup record goalscorer Miroslav Klose. There are some household names among the opposition, too. Sao Paulo’s side includes Cafú, Falcao and Denilson, Barcelona are travelling with Deco, Gaizka Mendieta and Jari Litmanen, while Márcio Amoroso, Ewerthon and Tinga are representing Dortmund. “They’re all great names who promise a spectacle,” added Élber.
Activities across the weekend
Barcelona and Dortmund kick off proceedings on Sunday at 18:00 CET at the 67,000-capacity Estadio do Morumbi, with Bayern taking on Sao Paulo an hour later. Each match consists of two halves of 25 minutes. The third-placed play-off is due to take place at 20:00, before the final at 21:00. On the day before that, there’ll be a ‘watch party’ for the Bundesliga fixture between Bayern and Werder Bremen with around 200 fans, while the legends from the German record champions will also be taking part in a training session for disadvantaged children and a marketing event for FC Bayern partner Paulaner.
With around 12.3 million inhabitants and a conurbation of 21 million people, Sao Paulo is among the largest cities in the world and is regarded as Brazil’s most important economic and cultural centre. Zé Roberto and Paulo Sérgio can’t wait for the outing with the FC Bayern Legends – not least because they were both born in Sao Paulo. “The people will welcome us enthusiastically, and we’ll give everything to please them,” said Zé Roberto.
Schedule for the 2019 Legends Tour:
13 December 2019: Flight to São Paulo
14 December 2019: Media and marketing activities
15 December 2019: Legends Cup Brazil
- 18:00 CET: Borussia Dortmund v FC Barcelona
- 19:00 CET: São Paulo F.C. v FC Bayern München
- 20:00 CET: Third-place play-off
- 21:00 CET: Final
16 December 2019: Media and marketing activities
Return to Munich
Topics of this article