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