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BAYERN FAMILY 1Februar4202542025
February Gastón has only just founded it. There are
23 official members, ten of whom have announced their intention to come along. It‘ s the German record champions‘ first and only fan club in Uruguay, where people love football but usually only follow international clubs alongside local ones if they have Uruguayan players.“ The people here are very patriotic,“ says Gastón,“ and since FC Bayern haven‘ t yet signed a player from here, they‘ re not that well known.“ The 30-year-old has been a fan of the A couple for eight years, and men from Munich for over 17 years, more than half his life. His
Vanessa has family has Italian roots, they are fanatics, he says: Roma, Italy
long since been – but when he watched Germany beat Saudi Arabia 8-0 at the cheering on
2002 World Cup, his heart was lost to German football.
Bayern games with her Gastón.
Vanessa balances a huge pile of meat on her way out into the garden. As a guest from Europe, you might ask yourself who is going to eat all this – especially as there are already so many chorizos sizzling on the barbecue that some of them are about to fall off the rack. But Gastón rearranges the sausages, making room for the new batch.“ Here in Uruguay, the adage is always: it‘ s better to have too much than too little – especially when it comes to food,“ he says with a laugh. Vanessa, his wife, is already on her way back to the kitchen to get another load. A few hours beforehand, Gastón and Vanessa had moved everything they needed into their small garden, a green patch of happiness on the outskirts of Montevideo: TV, table, chairs. The weather is good, Gastón explained. In autumn, it can get a bit fresh in Uruguay, even in the afternoon, but today the sun‘ s rays are warm enough to stay outside for a while. Besides, what was maté invented for? The infusion beverage is omnipresent. The visitor might assume some people in Uruguay have become physically attached to their thermos flask and carry the brew with them everywhere they go. Drivers have now been officially banned from drinking it at the wheel because so many accidents have been caused by fiddling around with the jug and mug. So Vanessa starts by putting maté on the garden table for everyone. In an hour‘ s time, FC Bayern‘ s crunch game at Leipzig kicks off in faraway Germany. With a five-hour time difference, the broadcast starts here at midday. Gastón and Vanessa have invited us to watch the football together. The“ FC Bayern Uruguay“ fan club will be there.
Ready for the big game: The members of the“ FC Bayern
Uruguay“ fan club also produced a Germany jersey to go alongside their national flag.
Still room for a Mia san mia tattoo
The young Gastón had to take a day off school when the Germans were firing in goal after goal in faraway Sapporo. He jotted down the line-up and studied the World Cup squad: Kahn, Linke, Ziege, Hamann, Jeremies, Jancker, Ballack – all had something to do with a certain FC Bayern. On that day, Gastón Lattore Figueroa‘ s football consciousness was awakened, and essentially more than just his approach to the game changed. The fact that he studied the DFB squad so closely is something that continues to this day. He now works as a controller at the continent‘ s largest communications company, where his colleagues call him“ The German.“ Vanessa heads out with the next load of meat. Meanwhile Alejandro, the first guest and of course a fan club member, has taken over barbecuing duties, and has taken off his FCB jersey so it doesn‘ t reek of firewood. He surmises that Gastón must have had German ancestors, given how meticulous he is when it comes to his FC Bayern. Vanessa nods. She‘ s known him for over eight years. At first she knew nothing about football, but she‘ s long since joined him in his passion. They married on 19 May 2018. Gastón got a tattoo of the date and it‘ s stayed in his memory for two reasons: Bayern also lost the cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt that day.“ Gastón cried at our wedding – but not because of me,“ says Vanessa with a laugh.“ However, he was in a good mood for the rest of the day.“ Meanwhile, the game is underway and the first load of barbecued food has disappeared into the stomachs of the guests, accompanied by melted cheese poured out of a tin mould. Looking at Gastón, the laid-back Latin attitude that marks out the people of Uruguay is gone. Drinking maté and barbecuing is quite enough, they say here. And if they want to start a revolution over in Argentina, let them. On this side of the Rio de la Plata, life simply goes on. But Gastón is neither a chilled Uruguayan nor a reserved German during a Bayern game.“ He talks to
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