Selters, a small town with just 8,000 inhabitants in the state of Hesse, is famous for a mineral water of the same name. But water gave way to wine and other party beverages on Sunday, and for a good reason: Bayern were in town to contest the 2012 edition of the annual Dream Game against a team assembled by local fan club Bayern-Kings 1987 Selters/Ts.
Ninety entertaining minutes later, the professionals had rattled up a thumping 17-0 victory, but the mood in the locality some 70 kilometres to the north of Frankfurt remained jubilant and excited. Nearly 14,000 enthralled spectators threw themselves into the afternoon festival and played their part in ensuring this year’s Dream Game, like all the others before it, was a truly unforgettable experience for the host fan club.
Boateng absent, chance for four youths
The Bayern-Kings 1987 transformed the sports ground in Selters into a worthy venue with temporary grandstands and a supporting programme starting at ten o’clock in the morning. The crowds of Bayern fans were entertained by a cheerleading display and two exhibition matches, to the customary culinary accompaniment of beer and bratwurst sausage. The fans and families then saw a veritable goalfest from the (very, very early) Bundesliga leaders.
Claudio Pizarro (4), Arjen Robben (2), captain Philipp Lahm (2), Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (2) and Mitchell Weiser, Manuel Neuer (penalty), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Patrick Weihrauch, Toni Kroos, Mario Mandzukic and Xherdan Shaqiri scored for Jupp Heynckes’ team, who were without late withdrawal Jérôme Boateng due to a minor injury. Young hopefuls Daniel Wein, Fabian Hürzeler, Vladimir Rankovic and Weihrauch from the reserves were promoted to the seniors for the friendly fixture.
Starke and Schweini on both sides
Heynckes made five changes to the team which beat Fürth 3-0 the previous day, with Schweinsteiger, Tymoshchuk, Emre Can and Weiser starting the friendly match. Bayern dominated as expected and netted 11 times before the interval through Pizarro (4), Robben (2), Lahm (2), Weiser, Neuer and Schweinsteiger.
Heynckes made a handful of changes at the break, but it did nothing to alter the flow of the game. Tymoshchuk (2) and subs Weihrauch, Kroos, Mandzukic and Shaqiri added half a dozen more goals against the Fan Club XI, who were handed serious professional help midway through the second half, as Tom Starke and Schweinsteiger swapped shirts with their opposite numbers and played the last 20 minutes for the home side.
The Fan Club tried every trick in the book – their team even comprised 14 players by the end – but there was to be no consolation goal. It was still a highly worthwhile exercise, as the Limburg-Weilburger District Council rewarded the no fewer than 40 players who appeared for the home team with a lavish communal dinner, the ‘prize’ for conceding fewer than 20 goals.
Topics of this article