BAYERN FAMILY February 2025
URUGAY - A SPORTING COUNTRY
With 3.5 million inhabitants ( 1.5 million live in the capital Montevideo ), Uruguay is the tenth largest country in South America , but it ‘ s no small fish .
BRAZIL
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Gastón ‘ s tattoo of his wedding date is proof of his love . The fact that Bayern lost the cup final to Frankfurt on the same day by no means diminishes its value .
ARGENTINA URUGUAY 3,5 million inhabitants
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Montevideo
2 Minas awful and the deception worked . The next day , the spies were absolutely astonished when their team were thrashed 6-1 . In Uruguay , they still laugh about the prank . To this day , they call this story “ The Resurrection .“ In Uruguay , people love “ la lucha “ in football , explains Gastón as the second half kicks off . La lucha , the fight , still characterises the style here , and people often refer to it as “ garra charrúa “, named after the indigenous people who produced feared warrior horsemen in the 16th century . Gastón doesn ‘ t have a lot of time for that , he explains . “ Football today is about more than fighting . You need tactics , tactics , tactics . I like thinking .“ That ‘ s why Gastón ‘ s heroes are not the much-acclaimed strikers . He favours the strategists and defenders . “ I loved Bastian Schweinsteiger , ‘ el motor ’ of your football ,“ he says , “ and Philipp Lahm , like a German machine that doesn ‘ t make mistakes .“ He has “ no words for Thomas Müller : he imagines spaces that others can never see . He also knows no pain . He never stops . Unbelievable .“ A particular favourite is one that Gastón pronounces like the Korean national dish kimchi . He means Joshua Kimmich : “ That ‘ s the reincarnation of Lahm . A promise for German football . Let ‘ s not forget : Lahm won everything .“ Under the table , Violetta , the dog , waits patiently for a few morsels to fall from the table , while around it , the “ FC Bayern Uruguay “ fan club waits for the men from Munich to score . To no avail . The game ends in a 1-1 draw and there ‘ s no big victory ride through the city . Nevertheless , Gastón happily sings along to the music on the car radio . “ It was a good day for our young fan club . We ‘ ll continue to grow ,“ he says . A stuffed lion on the dashboard is a bit confusing : did he not know that that ‘ s what ’ s on the club crest of arch-rivals TSV 1860 ? “ No , no ,“ says Gastón
and laughs . “ It ‘ s a Berni lookalike , a gift from Vanessa .“ She just knows what ‘ s good . In addition to mountains of grilled meat , a large portion of FC Bayern love . And preferable too much than too little .
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FC Bayern , mi amor : Vanessa , Alejandro , Gastón , Gabriel , Jorge , Facundo , Carolina ( top from left ), Maximiliano and Julieta .
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Two world-class strikers , one birthplace : Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani both come from Salto , a town of 100,000 inhabitants .
The national sport of barbecuing : The world ‘ s largest barbecue took place in Minas in 2017 . Around a hundred chefs prepared 16.5 tonnes of meat .
Uruguay ‘ s Classico : 13 of the 16 clubs in the top tier play in Montevideo . The clash between record champions Peñarol and Nacional is the most heated .
Peñarol played a friendly at FC Bayern in April 1927 . A crowd of 30,000 watched the hosts win 2-1 at the Grünwalder Stadion . Bayern ‘ s scorers were Josef Pöttinger and Ludwig Hofmann .
Uruguay won the first-ever football World Cup at the Estadio Centenario in 1930 . Their second triumph came in 1950 at the Maracanã . They also boast four Copa América titles .
116 FC Bayern Magazine