Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso took on 40 children in a game of soccer. And won.
The Bundesliga season is set to start this week, but that doesn’t mean the Bayern Munich players can’t have fun. Bayern took part in a friendly in New York, but it was unlike any friendly you’ve ever seen. That’s because only two of their players, Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso, suited up, and they took on a squad of 40 kids.
"Who would win if @FCBayern‘s @kingarturo23 and @XabiAlonso took on 40 small children? We made it happen!https://t.co/0Na47EyocV— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) August 24, 2016"
They played three goalies, 17 defenders, and 10 midfielders and strikers. How’s that for parking the bus? However, the kids showed that they were taking the match seriously when one of them fouled Vidal hard outside the box. That was after Vidal hit the crossbar when taking a shot from the center of the park.
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But despite their best defensive efforts, Alonso scored the first goal from a corner kick. That’s when the kids sprung to life in attack, and really started to press. After Alonso uncharacteristically gave away the ball, the kids equalized at 1-1.
However, that would be the only goal they could muster, as Vidal put home the last two goals of the game. One came from a corner kick, and the other from a free-kick.
If this exhibition game proved anything, it’s that Bayern Munich have tremendous depth. While Vidal and Alonso would be key figures on almost any other team, Bayern could win without them. They could’ve easily sent out Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski for this game, but instead they used two players who had eight combined goals between them last season. But by beating a team that had a huge man advantage, they look to be in midseason form already.