Bayern Munich’s players celebrated a goal during a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on August 3, 2024. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
Goals from Gabriel Vidovic and Leon Goretzka secured a 2-1 victory for new Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany in his first significant test since taking charge of the Bundesliga giants.
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min did not reunite with his former captain Harry Kane, who was resting after leading England to the Euro 2024 final and did not make the trip. However, Bayern’s Eric Dier caught up with his former Spurs teammates, including Son, Richarlison, and James Maddison, during the warm-up.
Munich started quickly, with former Arsenal midfielder Serge Gnabry firing over the bar within two minutes. Shortly after, Vidovic scored through Guglielmo Vicario’s legs following more good work from Gnabry.
Kompany’s team displayed slick passing football, with Goretzka doubling the lead after halftime in a match filled with chances for both sides. Pedro Porro’s 30-yard strike put Tottenham back in contention after 66 minutes. Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski, and teenager Lucas Bergvall all came close as Spurs pushed for an equalizer.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou attributed his team’s lack of energy to a long trip to Japan and South Korea in the scorching summer heat. “Fair to say the players were showing the effects of us working hard here for 10 days,” said Postecoglou. “I think we’ll get an enormous benefit from the camp we’ve done here though, but tonight we perhaps just paid the price for it.”
The match was a 67,000 sell-out at Seoul’s World Cup Stadium, with many fans wearing replicas of Son’s Tottenham shirt and Bayern’s Korean defender Kim Min-jae’s jersey.
