Donovan, Bayern Win In Bamberg Snowball Match

After all those years in sunny southern California, Landon Donovan may have forgotten just how cold and snowy it can be when German football enters orange ball season. If practicing all week in the cold and blowing snow wasn't enough top remind him, playing the second half of a friendly today at Regionalliga side Eintracht Bamberg should have done the trick.

Playing in front of 15,000 hearty Franconian fans in a snow-filled Waldstadion von Weismain, Bayern showed up missing six key players due to illness injuries including Mark van Bommel, Franck Ribéry, Lukas Podolski, José Sosa, Lucio, und Toni Kroos.

The match started 30 minutes late after the Bayern team bus got caught in a traffic jam caused by the heavy snowfall but that did not stop Luca Toni from tossing a few snowballs at teammates during warmup.

The poor field conditions made it difficult for either team to put together any fluid passing. Nonetheless, Bayern did get some good chances early while Bamberg barely threatened FCB's goal. After 27 minutes Tim Borowski finished a good combination with Miroslav Klose to open up a 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later Bayern's Phillip Lahm slalomed the defense well and finished well to stretch the margin to 2-0.

Donovan came on as one of five subs in the second half paired up front with Luca Toni. Donovan helped to set up a 50th minute chance which Toni could not convert and the two combined well on the sloppy field throughout the half. Bayern's third goal came when a clearance from Bamberg keeper Stephan Kurz' clearance found the feet of Klose, who hammered it home for a 3-0 lead. Bamberg managed one more scoring chance in the 71st minute which was well saved by Joerg Butt to preserve the win.

After the match, Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann remarked to the German media that "Above all, it was a big adjustment for Landon Donovan and Luca Toni to play on the snow."

Game Stats:

1. FC Eintracht Bamberg 0 FC Bayern 3 (0:2)

1. FC Eintracht Bamberg: Essig (83rd Horcher) - Pickel, Bechmann, Grasser, Stumpf - Dennerlein, Kaiser, Dotterweich, Zang, Deptalla - Heyer

FC Bayern Munich: Rensing (46th Butt) - Oddo, Van Buyten (46th Donovan), Demichelis (46th Breno), Lahm (46th Lell) - Altintop , Ottl, Zé Roberto (46th Schweinsteiger), Borowski - Toni, Klose

Official: Georg Schalk (Augsburg)
Attendance: 15,000
Scoring: Borowski (27th), Lahm (35th), Klose (54th)