A nice gesture from the current Bundesliga champions to their loyal Croatian supporters.
On the final days of 2018, social networks are full of congratulations, kind wishes and thanks, which is precisely what the famous German football club Bayern Munich did, reports Gol.hr on January 1, 2019.
Namely, the Bavarian club sent their Croatian supporters a message of thanks for their support in 2018 – and the best part? They wrote it in the Croatian language. You can see their note in a photo on the club’s official Facebook page which reads ‘Hvala vam’, with the caption:
“Dear Fans in Croatia, thank you for your support in 2018!
Let’s give everything in 2019!”
As expected, this post welcomed a swarm of positive reactions by the many Croatian fans of the German club.
The connection between Bayern Munich and Croatia, however, is no new story. Currently, Niko Kovač is at the helm of the club, and the Croats can be thanked for building the foundations of the great Bayern we know today.
About fifty years ago, Bayern was not the largest club in Germany or even in Munich – this title belonged to 1860 Munich. When the Bundesliga was founded in 1963, Munich was given the lead as a representative of Munich, while Bayern remained in the limelight of low-league football.
The leading men of Bayern then pushed the Zagreb-born Zlatko “Čik” Čajkovski to come to their club. He accepted the offer even though he was a well-trained coach at the time, and the rest was history.
In the first team, Čik made names like Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer, rebuilt Bayern and raised two cups and a Cup Winner’s Cup. He was succeeded by Branko Zebec, a fellow citizen and former teammate, who led the club to the championship title.
Apart from the coaches, the players – the Kovač brothers, Ivica Olić, Mario Mandžukić and Danijel Pranjić – all left behind a deep mark. The first Croat in Bayern, however, was Ante Vučkov, who was brought in by the legendary Čik in 1965 from Trešnjevka (then in the First League). Vučkov scored in his debut, but already in the following game, broke his leg, after which he never played for Bayern again.
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
