The Official Site of Landon Donovan

Mon, Jan 5th 2009, 10:21

Landon begins training with Bayern Munich

Landon Donovan arrived in Dubai yesterday, where Bayern Munich is holding its midseason training camp, to begin training with the club for his 75-day loan. Landon was very excited to join the club, and finally begin training.

“I’m pleased and very excited to be here,” Landon told Bayern’s official website. “My goal is to become part of the team as quickly as possible. I’m confident it’ll work out. It was made very easy for me here at Bayern back in November. I was welcomed with open arms.“

He also expressed his excitement about playing alongside some of the best forwards in football, joining Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, and Lukas Podolski on the front lines.

“Training with them back in November was a dream come true. Training with such classy players makes you a better player yourself. I can learn lots from them. At the same time, I do believe I can bring qualities of my own to the team. I’m a different type of player compared to Luca, Miro and Lukas. I do a lot of work off the ball and at a high pace.“

Landon also expressed excitement in joinging a top club, in a football-crazed country.

“The people in Germany have much greater passion for football. Football’s in their blood, as football has such a long history in Germany, but we’ve only had the MLS for 13 years. Bundesliga matches are obviously very high quality, every player at a club like Bayern has class, which is different to America. The playing styles are different too. You get more one-on-one situations in the Bundesliga, the players are technically strong and good on the ball – the MLS is faster and more physical.“

One question still in the air is the length of Landon’s stay with Bayern. The terms of the current loan imply that Landon will return to the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 15th, however Landon stated his desire to stay in Germany. “I’d definitely like to stay for longer.“

Check out Landon’s entire interview here.