A personal story: why I never regretted supporting Bayern Munich

May 25, 2013. Wembley Stadium, London. The final of the UEFA Champions League. 89th minute.

Jerome Boateng took a long direct free kick towards Franck Ribéry. A handful of defenders stood in front of him. However, Ribéry did not hesitate and put the ball in the penalty area, directly in the way of Arjen Robben.

Robben received the ball and with a simple touch of his left foot, he left all defenders for dead. He then saw the goalkeeper step forward and gently rolled the ball into the far corner. The ball slowly, almost playfully rolled over the goal line, and Robben walked away in celebration with his arms outstretched, before being harassed by his teammates.

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It was the first time that I started to follow FC Bayern Munich.

Since that day, I watched almost every Bayern game that I had a chance to. Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, whatever. I even watched the pre-season friendly tournaments like the Telekom Cup or the Audi Cup. When I develop an interest in something, I really dive deep into it. That particular characteristic is why I know the difference between two batches of KTX-Sancheon train sets, and why Tyrannosaurus Rex Most likely it was not covered in feathers.

Well, let’s go back to Bayern. The reason I chose Bayern may seem a bit cheap now. Due to the presence of Ji-sung Park, he was supporting Manchester United at the time. However, once Park left United in 2012, supporting them was not the same. He had very little loyalty to the players and didn’t really have a connection to the club itself. I needed to find a new club, and I remember that I debated between FC Bayern and Real Madrid, two teams that I considered very good, teams that were easy to support. I chose the first one.

I still remember the first game I saw as an “official” Bayern fan. It was the third league game of the season against Nurnberg. A goalless first half was followed by Ribéry’s great goal and Robben’s signature dribble and shot. We won 2-0.

When I saw that game, I felt something. Do you know that feeling when you know that you are the perfect match with something or someone? Perhaps a spark that ignites within you? It’s hard to explain, but I felt like this:

‘Now this is my team.’

In the next seven years, Bayern won a whopping 18 trophies. Obviously it’s easy to support a team that wins all the time. But you would be very wrong if he only supported Bayern in their glory days. For one thing, I still supported them last year after seeing them concede five goals for the first time. My friend gave me an AS Roma sticker as a heartwarming gift. I know he wasn’t telling me to support Rome from then on, but I said bluntly anyway:

“If you are asking me to change teams, the answer is no.”

I politely declined my best friend’s offer to support Real Madrid after their third consecutive Champions League victory, and also an offer to support Manchester United again. I remember in 2014, just a few months after I chose Bayern over Madrid, we met in the semi-finals of the Champions League and were humiliated by an aggregate score of 5-0. Madrid went on to win the tournament. If I had chosen Madrid a few months earlier, I too would have been enjoying European glory.

But I don’t regret choosing Bayern for a second. Why? Because in those short months, I had made Bayern “my team”. The spark that hadn’t been there when he was supporting United was still burning, and it’s still going strong seven years later.

What is this spark, anyway? Is it just loyalty, or is it something more, something stronger? Is he pride in our “mia san mia” mentality? Or is it all of the above?

I guess I could have started with the pride of supporting the best players in the world. Who wouldn’t be proud to have a team packed with world-class players? The best goalkeeper in the world in Manuel Neuer, the best winger in Philipp Lahm, the best wingers in Robben and Ribery, and the only Spatial interpreter in Thomas Muller. Add in top striker Robert Lewandowski, who joined a year after he started supporting Bayern, and he really had a team to be proud of.

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The pride he had in the players became the pride of the team itself. Bayern had many players from then until now, but they all sported the same badge on their chest. The FC Bayern crest. You could look at any player on the field and you would see the red, white and blue emblem. That emblem is now etched in my eyes and also in my heart.

That pride turned into a feeling of familiarity. A shield that I saw everywhere, a team that I thought about all the time, a team spirit that never changes from ‘mia san mia’, that was a familiar part of my life now. Bayern was not just a football team that I supported, but a family presence without which I could not imagine my life. It’s probably appropriate that one of Bayern’s most important values ​​is family.

Familiarity then turned to appreciation. Bayern have given me many different experiences. I started learning about a completely different country and its culture. I became interested in a region that I didn’t even know existed. They even encouraged me to learn a whole new language (although admittedly that was also partly because my German teacher was quite attractive). I traveled to Germany to see my team in person and I met many different people thanks to my support for Bayern, people from all over the world. In a way, Bayern had opened up a new world for me.

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But not only am I grateful for the new experiences my team has given me, but also for the fact that it has been there for me as long as I have been there, if not more.

During the last three years, I have developed various mental illnesses. Anxiety, depression, panic disorder, whatever. I don’t know when it started. All I know is that it got serious about three years ago, to the point where I started going to therapy and taking medication, and I was faced with some very scary moments. Of course, that story is still a story in progress.

Many people have hurt me, sometimes it was my fault, sometimes not. But the only common denominator was that, for whatever reason, I was losing trust in people in general, which made my condition worse. I was afraid of people and sometimes I am still reluctant to meet new people.

But when I support my team, I forget about my problems for 90 minutes, because of that feeling of familiarity. I know what I’m getting into and I know that I am one with the team. And every time I smile or shout for joy when we win, I think to myself:

‘Yes, I don’t need to depend on others to be happy.’

And boy, was I happy many times. There has been no shortage of happy memories supporting this wonderful club.

Photo by Ronny Hartmann / Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images

In March 2014, I woke up to the news that we had won the Bundesliga in record time overnight. I was overjoyed. My first Bundesliga title as a fan.

Photo by Cuneyt Karadag / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

In May 2014, I applauded when Muller circled the goalkeeper to put DFB-Pokal out of reach of Borussia Dortmund. My first Pokal title as a fan.

Photo by Boris Streubel / Getty Images

In September 2015, I woke up in shock to the news that Lewandowski had scored five goals in nine minutes. OMG.

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In May 2017, I saw my team live for the first time, and I sang and danced with delight in the most beautiful stadium in the world.

Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP via Getty Images

In May 2019, I was in Berlin to watch Lewandowski score our third goal of the DFB-Pokal final. I didn’t make a sound, but raised my fists in triumph as I lost myself in the cheers of the erupting fans.

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August 2020, I stayed up late on a family vacation to watch my team destroy FC Barcelona 8-2, eliminating lingering sleepiness.

I also owe a lot to Bayern for bringing me these memories, memories that have been an effective antidote to the poisonous mental disorders that permeate my life. The only way I can compensate my team is to offer my maximum support, come rain or shine.

Of course, supporting Bayern is not always the easiest thing in the world. The pressure to be the best at all times, the overwhelming sense of loss after losses, which we are not used to, and the hatred and jealousy of the other teams we play against. This is a crown whose weight is sometimes too difficult to bear. But Bayern is also a team that pays its fans well. Do you want to see another example?

August 24, 2020. Estadio da Luz, Lisbon. The final of the UEFA Champions League. Minute 90 + 5.

The score is 1-0. We just need to hold on for a few more seconds. My heart is racing faster than ever. In fact, the only ones who work harder than my heart are the players running on the field.

And finally, it happens. The final whistle sounds.

FC Bayern are European champions for the first time in seven years.

Photo by Michael Regan / UEFA / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

I let out a roar of joy and leap from my chair. It’s 6 in the morning, but I don’t care. Hot tears escape my eyes and cut my cheeks.

That feeling of victory, that’s the reason why I started supporting Bayern, and that’s the reason why I will never regret that choice.