After arriving in Argentina, the young talents of the FC Bayern World Squad had very little time to get to know each other and to gel in their first training sessions together before head coach Roy Makaay's newly formed team took to the pitch as a unit for the first time: On day 5 of their 12-day trip to Argentina, the international line-up faced their first stiff challenge against a real top-class team, the U20s of Estudiantes de la Plata in Buenos Aires.
Watch the entire game here:
Even though the team ended up losing 2-0 (2-0), the coach was still quite happy afterwards: "The result wasn't that important today, but rather the way the team played. Our slogan is 'One Team' - and that's what I saw on the pitch today." In the short preparation phase so far, the focus in the training sessions has had to be placed more on defending. The Dutchman liked the way his team implemented that on the pitch: "We have to start with the defence, but from what I saw today, I'm sure we can continue to work with that."
Early setback and injury misfortune
After an even opening period, the World Squad were unlucky to go 1-0 down in the 14th minute when the home side scored with a hopeful long-range effort. The goal had an impact on the visitors, and it became clear in the following minutes that the team needed more time to get used to each other. Against a highly motivated and already well-drilled Estudiantes team, there was little room for the World Squad to get into their own game.
Coach Roy Makaay on the touchline: "Our slogan is 'One Team' - and that's what I saw on the pitch today."
"You could see the opponents have been playing together for many years and you could also see they wanted to win today," said Makaay, summing up the Argentinians' performance. An early injury to captain Gustavo Telles (38th minute) also made it even more difficult for his team to find their own rhythm. "Hopefully Gustavo's injury is not too bad, because he made a very good impression up until then," the 48-year-old continued.
2-0 at the break
The outfield players were consistently able to rely on the strong support between the posts: goalkeeper Jakov Borna Žaja prevented further goals with a string of great saves, but just before half-time, in the 43rd minute, he had to fish the ball out of the net again, which meant the World Squad went into the break two goals down.
The first starting XI of the FC Bayern World Squad "Class of 2023"
After the break, Makaay made seven changes, giving most of the players a chance to show what they could do. The new additions also brought more stability to the World Squad's game, allowing them to open up the match again. In a much more evenly-balanced second half, the German record champions' international team created some good chances of their own through well-placed shots by Isaias Galvan (70') and Ryan Ayoub (89').
Makaay: "A big compliment" to the team
"In the second half, we hardly allowed them any chances and maybe could have scored one or two ourselves. Defensively, we kept things a lot tighter. For a team who have been playing together for three days and where some of the players still can't communicate with each other because of their language, I'd like to pay them a big compliment," said head coach Makaay in his summary of the game.
Ryan Ayoub took over the captain's duties from Gustavo Telles, who had to come off after taking a knock just before the break.
The players and coaching staff are now looking to build on this good performance in the coming days. The next challenge is already scheduled for Friday, when they'll play against the youth team of Argentinos Juniors - the club where football legend Diego Maradona started his professional career.
This is what happened during the World Squad's first few days in Argentina:
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