When Bayern stepped out of the air-conditioned team bus on Wednesday morning at the training ground in Orlando, a wall of humidity of around 85 percent and 30 degrees hit them. The first session for Vincent Kompany’s team, around 16 hours after arrival in America, was suitably sweat-inducing. “It was a bit like someone had turned on underfloor heating,” remarked Thomas Müller after training. “We need to acclimatise, the conditions are different to in Munich. As a sportsman you have to get used to that first,” said captain Manuel Neuer. They won’t be looking for excuses though, explained Müller. “The coach has already laid down the spirit in the build-up and left no question. We want to win the thing."
Sweaty session
After initially working out in the gym, the squad headed out onto the grass. Coach Kompany and the staff got the team together and pledged ahead of the tournament that everyone will be needed, everything will be done at the highest level and they’ll need to push each other. After some activation and passing exercises, the players got down to business in some match situation drills. The group was slightly on the smaller side as the internationals who have been in action for their countries lately will join up in the coming days.
Photo with Mickey Mouse & Goofy
As a special surprise, Disney mascots Mickey Mouse and Goofy stopped by. "Everyone was a child once, and of course we grew up with them and had our fun,” said Müller. “When you look out of our hotel, you can also see Cinderella's castle. We're all still children at heart, so it's great fun." After training, a souvenir photo was taken with the two characters.
The Club World Cup begins for FC Bayern this Sunday at 12:00 local time (18:00 CEST) with the match against Auckland City FC in Cincinnati. “We're going into the tournament to play successful football,” Neuer declared. And accordingly, we obviously want to challenge for the title too. It's always very important to win the first match at these tournaments. We want to get off to a good start."
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