A few dozen fans gathered behind the goal at the ChampionsGate soccer fields early last week to catch a glimpse of Bayer Leverkusen players, namely Mexican soccer star Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.
Talk was of Chicharito's goal-scoring feats, a hot streak as easily watched in Florida over the past few months as in Munich thanks to global television deals. Behind the chattering fans, a United World Soccer truck sold the now-familiar red-and-black striped jerseys of a team whose factory-town history was forged some 4,600 miles away.
Bayer Leverkusen is in town to take part in this year's Florida Cup.