Marcel Sabitzer talks over Bayern Munich fandom as a kid

It is no secret that Marcel Sabitzer was a Bayern Munich fan growing up.

“It’s a childhood dream come true, that’s for sure. Having always run around proudly in my Bayern kit as a young lad, it’s the ultimate feeling. I dreamed of FC Bayern and back then it was a very distant. Now I can’t stop grinning,” Sabitzer told FCBayern.com.

Sabitzer said he became a Bayern Munich fan because they were often featured on television — and were also often winning.

“It was a result of how often the matches were shown on TV. My father watched a lot of football and often it was FC Bayern matches, so one thing led the other,” Sabitzer said.

Specifically, Sabitzer became a fan of both Zé Roberto and Giovane Élber.

“Zé Roberto and Giovane Élber, they were my two big heroes. Zé Roberto because he was such a machine in midfield, and Elber up front because of his star appeal. I often played in attack as a child, so it was natural. And then, of course, everything had to be there: the white boots, the carpet roll celebration and so on,” Sabitzer said.

Sabitzer also detailed what lengths he went to in hopes of recreating the magic of those players — he penned their names on the jerseys that he had.

“Among them were the gold one and the dark red one with the dark grey sleeves. But because the shirts didn’t have the printing on them, I drew ‘Élber’ and the number 9 myself with a black marker. It looked great!” Sabitzer said with a laughs.