The documentary about the FC Bayern World Squad is returning for a second season after the 2021 edition. The eight-part series premieres at 0:00 CEST on Thursday, 29 September, giving viewers a look behind the scenes of the project and following the boys on their journey with FC Bayern as they chase their goal of becoming professional footballers.
Hasan Salihamidzic (FC Bayern board member for sport): “The FC Bayern World Squad project is a very interesting alternative scouting programme. Some young players have already made the jump to professional clubs in their first year or are on the radar of their respective junior national teams. The FC Bayern World Squad can become a stable springboard for young players from all over the world. We're happy that our club can play a part in developing young players.”
Andreas Jung (FC Bayern board member for marketing): “With the FC Bayern World Squad, FC Bayern and Volkswagen – our core partner in this lighthouse project – want to promote global youth football, give players from regions lacking structure a chance, and generally contribute to cultural exchange. With this unique project, FC Bayern is once again transporting the values of diversity, tolerance and cohesion into the world.”
Stephan Franssen (head of sponsoring at Volkswagen): “In our diverse football activities, the broad base is at least as important to Volkswagen as top-level sport. The FC Bayern World Squad brings these focal points together in a wonderful way. We help give undiscovered young players from all over the world a chance. Their personal stories, their different backgrounds, are worth telling. Moreover, it is also a sign of diversity. Football brings people together.”
You can watch the first season here:
How do the boys live? What is their motivation? Do they give everything to get closer to their big dream of becoming a professional footballer? How do players from all over the world get along, meeting each other for the first time and playing together in a team? How do they adapt to the professional environment of FC Bayern? What are the mental challenges? The viewer can find out in the documentary more about all these questions that the dream of professional football entails. FC Bayern will release an episode every Thursday at 16:00 CEST over the next eight weeks. The series can be seen exclusively on the FC Bayern Munich YouTube channel as well as on the club website and in the app.
The annual project, launched with partner Volkswagen in 2021, gives U19 players from around the world the best possible platform to get on the radar of international professional clubs. With more than 2,600 applicants, there were four times more applications in the second year than the year before. Twenty-four young footballers from 17 countries were able to develop their skills under the guidance of FC Bayern coaches and club legends such as Klaus Augenthaler and Zé Roberto.
It saw the team travel to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for a training camp and two practice matches against Vasco da Gama and Flamengo to grow together and prepare for matches against German clubs like Wolfsburg and Unterhaching. This year’s finale was also a match against FC Bayern's U19s at the Allianz Arena, as the FC Bayern World Squad looked to catch the eye in front of 20,000 spectators. More information about the FC Bayern World Squad project can be found here.
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