Bayern Munich receive warm welcome to Singapore
The last time Bayern Munich came to Singapore in 2017, Ow Kai Cong was not a fan of the Bavarian side yet.
But the Nanyang Polytechnic student started supporting the German giants shortly after and when he heard that they would be coming to the Republic as part of their pre-season tour, he wanted to seize the opportunity to meet the team in person.
The 17-year-old was part of a group of about 150 fans who had gathered at the Andaz Singapore hotel on Sunday to welcome the 33-time Bundesliga champions ahead of their friendly against Liverpool at the National Stadium on Wednesday.
“Since there was this opportunity, I just came out here to get their autographs,” said Kai Cong, who was drawn to the Bundesliga side’s fan-centric approach in games and their ownership model.
“I’m hoping to meet all of them – it doesn’t matter if they are from the first team or the youth academy.”
Mostly decked in Bayern and Germany jerseys and bearing club memorabilia, fans arrived as early as 12 noon to make sure they get a good spot to meet their favourite players up close.
When the team bus arrived close to 7.15pm, the crowd erupted in cheers with their phones and jerseys in hand as they called out to the players.
While Thomas Muller and captain Manuel Neuer are not part of their Asia tour owing to injuries, star players including Joshua Kimmich, Matthijs de Ligt, Alphonso Davies as well as new signing South Korea’s Kim Min-jae made their way over to the fans.
Among the lucky fans who got photos with the players was Muhammad Irfan, 18, who brought his three-year-old pet cat Bubu, a three-year-old British Shorthair, along with him.
Before the team’s arrival, Bubu was popular among fellow fans as well as the club media, who took some videos and pictures of her.
Irfan, who managed to get wefies with Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman, is hoping to catch more players in the coming days.
He said: “I always get these players (Leon Goretzka and Kim) in my (Fifa) squad so it’s a breathtaking experience to see them in real life. You never know when you’ll get the chance to see them again so this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Despite nursing a fractured left hand, Germany fan Ian Goh still showed up and managed to get Sven Ulreich and Kimmich to sign his jersey.
While the 22-year-old had hoped to meet more German players, he said: “Seeing them up close from watching them on television and having them come to Singapore is a really nice moment.”
Kim Ng, a fan of South Korean defender Kim, was unable to get the former Napoli player’s autograph, but others like Yann Sommer and Kimmich signed the football he had with him.
Ng, 24, said: “It’s true what they say that the German clubs are very welcoming and accommodating to the fans... The fact that the players even made it to our area shows that they care.”
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