On Saturday, the Class of '24 face the most important match of this year's World Squad journey, with the clash against the FC Bayern U19 team. Since their return to Germany, the players have been preparing intensively for the upcoming test, but they still have time away from the pitch to explore Munich and make one or two trips. Midfielder Giovanni de Abreu from Australia describes his experiences of the past two weeks.
Giovanni de Abreu – the FC Bayern World Squad's number 27
Hello everyone,
My name is Giovanni, Gio for short, and I'm the number 27 for the World Squad. We've been together for almost a month now, first in the USA and since Monday of last week, back in Germany. On the day after our return, we did a tour of the Audi factory in Ingolstadt with the coaches, which was very interesting and I learned a lot.
Giovanni de Abreu showed full commitment in the game against the U18 Tyrol XI.
On Friday, we had the match against the U18 Tyrol team. We struggled to get into the game in the first half and gave our opponents a few chances to score. But we fought back in the second half, took control of the game and deserved to win in the end - the atmosphere on the bus journey home was great!
We had Sunday and Monday off from football and I was able to spend time with my family, who flew all the way from Australia to Munich to watch my last games with the World Squad. We went hiking together on the Zugspitze, where a cable car with a glass floor took us to the top, which was crazy. It was the first time I'd ever seen snow and we had a snowball fight – I'll never forget that for the rest of my life.
Reunion compatriot Nestroy Irankunda. The Australian attacker joined the FC Bayern reserves this summer.
Another personal highlight of the last two weeks for me was definitely seeing my former teammate from the Australian youth team, Nestroy Irankunda, at Säbener Straße. Who would've thought a year ago that we'd see each other again on the FC Bayern training ground? It's still surreal for me and a great privilege to be here and to be able to train here.
The mood in the team is really good right now and it's fun living with the boys in the youth centre. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner as a team every day. Between that we have training or free time to relax and explore Munich. Today we have the last training session before the game against the FC Bayern U19s. I respect the challenge and expect high-quality opponents, who are strong in every position. But we've trained hard and I hope we can prove ourselves.
De Abreu with World Squad teammate Jisung Hwang: 'It's fun with the boys'
Then on Sunday, it's back to my home city of Perth. The time with the World Squad has been class but I'm looking forward to home, especially my chihuahuas, who I miss a lot.
Yours, Gio
Meet the members of the Class of ‘24:
Over the past few weeks, a number of other World Squad players have talked about their time with the Class of '24. Here you can find out what defender Tate Asante and forward James Lackay experienced during their trip through the USA:
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