Sydney FC U19s in Leverkusen: ‘I've never experienced anything like it’

As part of their 12-day trip to Germany, a visit to Leverkusen was on the agenda after a friendly match against Schalke in the middle of the week. The visit started in the morning with an exclusive tour of the BayArena and ended at the Bundesliga team's training ground.

There, the young Australian players got to watch Edmond Tapsoba, Jonas Hofmann & Co. train under the guidance of Xabi Alonso and his coaching staff.

Jefta Bresser, head of the performance centre at Bayer 04, emphasised during the visit: “It's always interesting for us to see how football is played in other parts of the world. Such sporting comparisons and exchanges off the pitch are very important and helpful for all sides.”

A goal-filled friendly

After lunch, the Australian entourage then headed to the Kurtekotten performance centre, where a practice match against a mixed Bayer 04 U19/U17 team was the sporting highlight of the day. And it turned into an intense, high-scoring game in which it went back and forth. The lead changed hands time and again, with the match ultimately ending 5-4 in favour of the visiting Sydney side.

BAUMJOHANN: “Incredibly well organised”

The Australian travelling party also included long-time Bundesliga player Alexander Baumjohann, now head of player management at the A-League club after two years as a player at Sydney FC. Following the match, the Bundesliga champion and two-time DFB Cup winner spoke of an “incredibly well-organised day by Bayer 04. I've never experienced anything like it. The club and the people in charge took great care of us, our players and we were very impressed.”

The contact between Sydney FC and Bayer 04 came about through Baumjohann and Simon Rolfes, managing director for sport at the current Bundesliga leaders. Baumjohann said: “We used to play against each other a lot and spoke a year or two ago. When it became clear that we would be taking part in the Easter tournament in Düsseldorf, I got in touch again, and that's how this wonderful day came about.”

Sydney FC are the first Australian club to take part in the international Easter tournament in Düsseldorf. From Thursday evening to Easter Monday, clubs from Germany and Sydney FC will face teams including Everton (England), Nordsjaelland (Denmark) and a Japanese university XI.