MÜNCHEN (Bulinews) Well into it’s sixth year in operation, Roy Makaay can’t speak any higher of Bayern Munich’s World Squad. Speaking at a round table event where Bulinews.com was present, he detailed some of the initiative’s successes.
“Six years ago, Bayern gave players under 19 [years old] a chance to be part of the Bayern Munich family. The first three years Klaus Augenthaler was the coach and then they asked me,” the 51-year-old former Bayern star explained.
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“My coaching experience [helps], we speak English and Spanish because we don’t speak German in this World Squad with the staff. In the beginning people thought it was just a social project because the kids have to apply by sending a video.
“Of course, a lot of them have agents, but they have to upload a video and then we select them through the video [based on their skills]. They [the submissions] are getting better and better every year [since I started] coaching.
“The first two weeks we went abroad. We went to Argentina and then the last two weeks we are always at the Sabener Strasse. Then on the last day we always play a match against Bayern’s under-19 academy team.
“In the last four years we have beaten them twice, and they [Bayern] don’t like it that the academy team loses to a team that doesn’t know each other. We now have 20 to 25 players who have turned pro from the World Squad,” he smiled.
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The 46-time Netherlands international focused in on two names in particular – his stories of World Squad defender Ignacio Isla and Bayern talent Maycon Cardozo’s rise to becoming professional footballers are particularly striking.
“A couple of days ago I got a message from Argentinean centre-back Ignacio Isla. He was at Unión Santa Fe and made his professional debut this week, so we can add another [successful player] to the list [of graduates].
“I think the biggest [World Squad star] is Maycon Cardozo. He joined us aged 15 years old. […] He played at [Bayern’s] Thailand academy and showed his quality, so we decided to keep him for one more week with Bayern’s under-17 team.
“He turned 16 that January, so he signed for them but got injured straight away with his shoulder. Last year he was playing with the under-19 side and one day I was speaking with Kompany.
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“He said that one of your players [Cardozo] is training with our panel. He said the little Brazilian-Portuguese guy. All of a sudden, he was playing with Kompany’s team as he gives a lot of time for young players to train with the first team.
“He got his debut against Gladbach. It was 3-0 [to Bayern] with a red card. The camera turned to the side and he was coming on [as a sub]. I was proud, but prouder for the people who invented [the World Squad] six years ago.
“I am only the coach but there’s a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the offices. [Things like] arranging the visas, because it’s not that easy to get to some countries anymore,” Makaay said, making sure to praise the staff’s communal effort.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
