David Beckham: From Hero to Zero

I think its safe to say Grealish is only in the squad because of you! Never seen him turn out decent in anyone else's save

Just read it all since Beckham joining Bayern and I enjoyed EVERY updates!
Now I need to start reading the biography

Great work throughout Glenn strong month and Champions League football is guaranteed well done! Congrats to Jack on the call up tbh never even heard of him til you mentioned him haha

Arvind: Really? Didn't know I was the only one

Alex: Go for it mate

Krupesh: I've never heard of him either! Only after I started the save - he did pretty well for the Aston Villa youth team in the NextGen series and there was an article in the Mail about it.

Road to Olympiastadion 2018

David Beckham has led his FC Bayern Munchen side into the DFB Pokal Final, their first appearance in a Final since 2015 where they were upset by 2.Bundesliga minnows Furth 2-1. Bayern haven't won the DFB Pokal since 2010 and Beckham will be looking to resolve that.

If they win, it will be Bayern's 16th DFB Pokal. It will also be Beckham's 8th trophy medal as a manager and his 5th trophy in his managerial career - after having won the Capital One Cup, the FA Cup, the Community Shield and the Europa League with Aston Villa before.

Second Round

Rafa Benitez was in charge of Bayern's First Round game against Kleefeld, who play in the third division of German football, the 3. Fußball-Liga. He did his job, with Bayern running out 5-0 winners. It was up to Beckham for the Second Round and the Englishman made a winning start in his first DFB Pokal match, triumphing against Burghausen 4-1. An own goal from Patric Klandt, followed by a brace from Dawid Koslowski and a goal from man of the match Abdoulaye Sylla helped seal the deal.

Third Round

Bayern faced Hertha BSC in the Third Round of the Pokal and thanks to the might of star man Toni Kroos and a goal from Romelu Lukaku, managed to crush Hertha 3-0 and advance to the Quarter Final.

Quarter Final

A familiar foe awaited them in the Quarter Final, with 1860 Munchen going head to head with their big brothers. Although 1860 impressed, Bayern still proved themselves as the dominant club of Munich as they won 1-3 with goals from John Heitinga, Ademilson and Jerome Boateng.

Semi Final

Hamburger SV was all that stood between Bayern Munich and their first DFB Pokal Final in 3 years. Pushed by this fact, the Bavarians played to win and Brazilian duo Ademilson & Ramires scored. HSV almost produced a comeback with two quickfire goals but it was too late.

Final

Beating Bayern's fierce rivals in the Semi-Final, Koln will be extremely motivated for this. However, can pure motivation beat quality? It will certainly be an interesting match. Watch out for the Final of the DFB Pokal - FC Bayern Munchen vs FC Koln.

Bayern to win it 3-1

Nice update there! Expect the match update to be immense as always :p I think Bayern will win 3-0

Neal: Thought your prediction was the other way around on chat earlier

Krupesh: Thanks!

DFB Pokal Final 2018

Neal Hasan: Welcome to Eurosport's live coverage of the DFB Pokal Final between FC Koln and FC Bayern Munchen. I'm Neal Hasan and this here beside me is my fellow colleague Krupesh Shah, as well as Barcelona boss and former Bayern manager, Antonio Conte!

Krupesh Shah: Hello, everyone!

Antonio Conte: This is Antonio, hello.

Neal Hasan: Thanks for agreeing to be here today, Mr. Conte.

Antonio Conte: It is no problem, and do call me Antonio.

Krupesh Shah: Right, let's take a look at the line-ups, shall we?

FC Bayern Munchen: Neuer; Lahm, Xulu, Musacchio, Boateng; Verratti, Ramires; Ramirez, Schweinsteiger, Grealish; Ademilson

FC Koln: Cillessen; Colin, Kubler, Tomic, Foulquier; Faty, Jajalo, Kubik, Strandquist; Ishak, Bruno


Neal Hasan: Let's take a look at FC Koln first. Timo Horn is out injured so in steps Jasper Cillessen for the job today. Horn is going to be a massive miss for Koln for this Final, isn't he?

Krupesh Shah: Indeed, Neal. Koln have suffered a lot of untimely injuries to their key players like Adil Hermach and Osvaldo Martinez. This all but points to a Bayern win, but Koln could still cause an upset yet.

Neal Hasan: Maxime Colin and Lukas Kubler are going to be very important for Koln today. They are the best defenders in the team and it'll be up to them to stop Bayern's attack force. I am also a little surprised Uwe Rosler is deciding to start Zlatko Tomic. The lad's just 17 and hasn't even appeared in a Bundesliga match yet!

Krupesh Shah: Neither Koln's midfield or attack look impressive. But perhaps if they keep parking the bus as fans would say, they could force this to go to penalties where they'll have a better chance of winning. What do you think of the Bayern squad today, Antonio?

Antonio Conte: It's strong. Toni Kroos will be a huge miss for Bayern but David Beckham has chosen to play Bastian in Toni's position - and, although old, Bastian is still a very good player. I'm surprised Jerome Boateng is playing left-back, I'd expected him in central defense instead of Mateo Mussachio and Stefan Radu at left-back, like he has been for the majority of the season.

Neal Hasan: In midfield, we have the duo of Ramires and Marco Verratti.

Antonio Conte: It's a very good partnership. I struggle to understand why Rafa Benitez decided to leave Ramires to the bench when he was here. He's a brilliant player. I was the one who took Ramires to Bayern in 2013 and I've always rated him so I'm glad to see he's doing so well under David Beckham. I am also puzzled on why Marco Verratti was a benchwarmer at Tottenham - from what I can see, he would fit in perfectly to the team. But I think it is very good for Bayern that they have acquired him because he has put in a lot of good performances. I feel a little disappointed for Abdoulaye Sylla that he's not playing though. The boy has been very impressive throughout the season.

Krupesh Shah: What about Bayern's attack today? Do you think they can bypass Koln's defense?

Antonio Conte: Yes, definitely! Gaston Ramirez and Jack Grealish are the best wingers at the club at the moment. Grealish always loves an assist while Gaston always loves a goal. They're the perfect left wing right wing duo. Ademilson is also going to be vital for Bayern today if they want to score.

Neal Hasan: Thank you for the review, Antonio! Now let's get on to the match!



1' - We kick off here at the Olympiastadion.

11' Bayern GOAL - Bastian Schweinsteiger whips in the corner and Siyanda Xulu gets his head to it! It flies past Jasper Cillessen and yes, it's a goal!

19' - Bayern are piling on the pressure. Jack Grealish plays a beautiful pass to Ademilson who strikes it, but Cillessen does well to palm it away.

34' - PENALTY! Zlatko Tomic bizarrely pushes Ademilson down in the penalty box while the Brazilian striker is waiting to receive a pass from Gaston Ramirez. The Koln players are protesting, but it's pointless. A very soft push, but a penalty nonetheless, no question about that.

34' - Bastian Schweinsteiger will take this penalty. Will he make it 2-0?

34' - Aaaaaand no, he won't. Cillessen does well to anticipate Schweinsteiger's shot direction and hits it away to one of the defenders. Great save. There might be hope for Koln yet.

36' - Siyanda Xulu has picked up a knock. A bad tackle, but the South African has signaled to the bench that he wants to carry on.

39' - Gaston Ramirez strikes it, but Cillessen saves the ball.

40' Koln GOAL - A brilliant goal from FC Koln's Gianni Bruno! Mikael Ishak is on the receiving end of Cillessen's goal kick and the Swede passes it beautifully to Ishak, who makes the most of his dangerous position. 1-1!

45' - HT: Bayern 1-1 Koln. Half time at the Olympiastadion, and both sides go into the dressing rooms level.

45' - Welcome back for the second half of the DFB Pokal.

46' Bayern GOAL - Seems like David Beckham said something to his lads at half time! Ramires hits it up to Marco Verratti and the Italian unleashes a screamer that flies into the top left of the net. Bayern goes 2-1 up!

70' - Bayern use up their three substitutes as Per Mertesacker comes on for Siyanda Xulu; Abdoulaye Sylla is on for Ramires; and Bastian Schweinsteiger goes off for youngster Jacob Glibo.

73' - Koln also switches things up with Kacper Przybylko on for Gianni Bruno.

92' Bayern GOAL -Fans might have thought it was over, but it's not! Jacob Glibo crosses it for Jack Grealish, and the England winger hits it past the Koln goalie to make it 3-1! It's obvious who's won the DFB Pokal!

90' - FT: Bayern 3-1 Koln. And it is done! Bayern have won their first DFB Pokal since 2010!

Neal Hasan: What a game, and what a result. FC Bayern Munchen have secured the DFB Pokal and it is David Beckham's first trophy outside of England.

Krupesh Shah: I reckon big things are on the horizon for Bayern!

Neal Hasan: Thank you for joining us here today, I'm Neal Hasan, and here beside me is Krupesh Shah. Good night.

Great final result for Die Bayern and a bit of a nice surprise to see the English winger grab a goal you absolutely dominated that game so a win was never out of the question haha fantastic game to make my commentating debut, beside a great commentator Neal Hasan

2013-05-19 13:31#102439 k1rups : Great final result for Die Bayern and a bit of a nice surprise to see the English winger grab a goal you absolutely dominated that game so a win was never out of the question haha fantastic game to make my commentating debut, beside a great commentator Neal Hasan

You are going to be commentating on many more cup finals in the future

Congrats buddy

Great result Glenn.Keep bringing the silverware home

Well done Glenn

Congrats on the Pokal, I expect you to win 5 trophies next season