The first two months of the Global Academy have already come to an end - time for fcbayern.com to take a look back for the first time. The young players have quickly settled into their new home and have promptly grown together as a team.
Two wins to start
Things kicked off at the beginning of September with a welcome event, where the boys were presented with their jerseys in the Allianz Arena's first-team dressing room. The following week, they passed their first test with flying colours in their maiden match against the U17s of TSV Murnau. The 6-0 win was a motivating start to the season. The Global Academy demonstrated its superiority in the very first minutes of the game with a goal from Jason Burney. This was followed by four more goals from the international team until Abdelrahman Elganainy finally sealed the final result with the sixth.
Unfortunately, he was less fortunate a week later in the match against SV Olympiadorf and had to go to A&E due to a head injury. However, he was on the road to recovery the very next day. Meanwhile, his teammates earned a 4-1 victory on the pitch.
Further fixtures
This was followed by another 6-0 win against SV Waldeck-Obermenzing at the beginning of October. The fact that the boys are now a well-oiled team was already evident here as assists from a variety of positions - even from goalkeeper Tristan Fredrickson - were skilfully converted into goals one after the other. In the next game against SV Heimstetten, the Global Academy had to fight for a 3-2 victory. It was only when Sanjay Gerry, who was making his debut after his injury break, came on as a substitute that the game turned around. The team also managed to secure two wins in the following games against DFI Bad Aibling and SpVgg Landshut.
After the performance tests, which recorded the players' physical condition at the start of the programme, and the more relaxed training sessions of the first week, the current programme is now more demanding. The coaching staff are challenging and encouraging the young players in daily, customised sessions.
Life off the pitch also holds some new challenges for the youngsters, like travelling to training independently on public transport in a foreign country or communicating in a new language - the boys already have to overcome these and similar everyday hurdles.
However, the Global Academy is not just a programme that teaches its participants for their future on and off the pitch, but also allows them to return home with unforgettable memories. Two of these were the stadium visits to the Allianz Arena for Bayern's matches against Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart. With these experiences in their bags, the Global Academy is now looking ahead to its second quarter, which we will report on fcbayern.com.
Find out more about the Global Academy here:
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