Fernando Carro on Bayer 04 Brazil Tour: “It’s a huge opportunity!”

Fernando, the club is just a few days away from heading to Rio de Janeiro for the “Bayer 04 Brazil Tour”, becoming the first Bundesliga team ever to hold preseason training in Brazil. Why did the team choose to hold training overseas this summer?

Carro: Bayer 04 has had post-season (Mexico 2022) and mid-season tours (St. Louis 2022) before and we have also held winter training in Florida, but this will be the first time we are going overseas for preseason. It’s a huge opportunity to further establish the club globally in a key region and have a fresh start to this new chapter for the team under Erik ten Hag.

And why did you choose Brazil?

Carro: There are many reasons. It‘s an incredible market with passion and love for football. There’s a deep connection to it from our side. Bayer 04 Leverkusen has a long history with players coming from Brazil going back several decades including stars like Paulo Sergio, Lucio, Jorginho, Emerson, Wendell, Renato Augusto, Juan and Ze Roberto, among others. I am looking forward to meet a bunch of them during our time there. As an organization, if we want to utilize our sporting success into a broader fan base, then we must continue build up relevance in foreign markets. At the same time we will use this trip to get even closer to the people of our parent-company Bayer, that connection is really unique and full of potentials. Last, we will step again into the role of ambassadors for the Bundesliga. Our league has developed a broad base of media partners across Brazil and we look forward to engaging and working with them on this tour to make the Bundesliga more relevant.

Training will be at Flamengo’s Ninho do Urubu facility and you’ll play a game against Flamengo U20. How did this come about?

Carro: Flamengo is one of the huge traditional powers in Brazil and we started a dialogue with them that included use of their training ground and a friendly at Estádio da Gávea. It helps that they have similar global outlook like we do and even that our team colors are complementary. The Flamengo U20 team is among the best in the world as the two-time defending champions of the U20 Copa Libertadores, so it’s a great first test for our team.

What do you hope the team takes away from this journey when everyone is back?

Carro: Obviously, most important are quality daily training sessions for the squad as they get back together with new faces including the head coach. The preseason camp is a chance for everyone to be in close proximity and build those bonds for the season. But the second part is of course more outward looking. We are a club with ambitions and dynamic ideas, going to Brazil is a reflection of that and we plan for this tour to have lasting impact. We’ve started a Bayer 04 Football Academy in Brazil that officially opened in July and we now have Portuguese language digital channels on Instagram and WhatsApp, for example. For us this is not just a tour but the start of a long relationship.

What activities are planned in Rio?

Carro: As outlined, we will concentrate on getting into a new, good team mode, to get ready for an exciting season. That is the most important thing. Alongside, of course, if you are at one of the most beautiful and shiny cities of the world, you will try to see a bit of it also. We are very grateful for sharing these moments with the representatives of our parent-company Bayer and we’ll celebrate that with an evening reception, called Black & Red Night, following the Flamengo friendly. As well I expect various media encounters. Lastly, it wouldn’t be a trip to Rio without stopping at the Christo statue.

What are you most looking forward to?

Carro: I haven’t thought about that much, we’ve been so busy preparing, but I’m looking forward to sitting in the stands for the friendly with views of Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado, but mostly watch how our team is doing its first steps competing. That will be quite the world class scenery for a game.