Vatican City, Oct 23 (EFE).- Pope Francis Wednesday received German soccer team Bayern Munich in a private audience at the Vatican, in which he was given a signed jersey and a pledge for a one million euro ($1.2 million) donation for charitable causes.
Francis, a great soccer fan, congratulated Bayern for Tuesday's "marvelous match", in which the side coached by Spaniard Pep Guardiola handed a sounding 1-7 defeat to Roma in the Champions League phase group, the Club reported on its twitter account.
Bayern's president, Karl Hopfner, and chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge headed the group, which spent a few minutes with the pontiff before Wednesday's general audience.
Guardiola and the team's captains, defender Philipp Lahm and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, handed the pope a Bayern jersey with the signatures of all the players.
Rummenigge said his team will play a friendly game next year and one million euros from the proceeds will be given to pope Francis for
