Go-karting, chefs, TV appearances and first pitches: Behind the curtain of Milan’s USA tour

After two weeks, three games and over 8,000 miles flown, AC Milan’s tour of the United States has officially drawn to a close and the squad are now back on Italian soil.

From a results standpoint things could hardly have gone better as Milan obtained a clean sweep in their 2024 Soccer Champions Tour campaign. A 3-2 win against Manchester City at Yankee Stadium was followed by a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid at Soldier Field, and the curtain came down after a penalty shootout triumph against Barcelona at MT&T Bank Stadium.

On the field there were some real positives to take as well, with Paulo Fonseca trying to instil his style and principles into a squad that is not yet at full strength. The pressing, build-up and playing out from the back were all big plus points, as were the performances of various individuals including some younger players.

With a second American trip in two years now in the books, we can reveal some of the aspects of the tour that fans might not know about, both from information we have and some further insight from La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Impressive logistics

Milan were the only Serie A club that went on tour overseas. Inter, Napoli, Roma and Atalanta remained in Italy, while Juventus went to Germany. One thing was different to last year, though: the Rossoneri chose the east side of the country as opposed to Los Angeles and the West Coast.

The team stayed for the vast majority of the time in Warren, New Jersey, which coincidentally was the same complex chosen by Italy for the 1994 World Cup. The reason was simple: to have the training facilities and hotel very close together, given that last year travelling across Los Angeles proved to be a nightmare.

The games in Chicago and Baltimore were excursions that took couple of days each and the delegation was made up of 90-95 people. That might sound like a huge amount, but – in addition to the team and staff – on a tour like this there are chefs, security, secretarial employees, press officers, journalists, travel managers, warehouse workers and more.

Milan chose to book an entire hotel and trained at the Pingry School, one of the most most prestigious high schools in America. Students pay $50,000 a year but have access to facilities like a swimming pool, soccer fields, football fields, baseball diamonds, basketball courts and an athletics track. It really is a top-level sports centre, which is why it was chosen.

As mentioned, there are chefs with the delegation who have an important role, Michele Persechini and Giulio Lombardoni to be more precise. One of the two left two or three days prior to the squad and went to the hotel that would host Milan to organise the kitchen work.

Local chefs are not used to dealing with the needs of football teams, which means that a lot of careful planning is needed to ensure as seamless a process as possible, starting with the preparation done before hand.

The food was bought and sent directly to the hotels on the instructions of Milan, who brought very little from Italy aside from lactose-free Greek yogurt, some pasta and not much else. The pasta and rice were always Italian, frozen foods were banned if possible, and the menu varied.

There was Italian food, paella, some oriental-inspired dishes, spicy chicken wings and even once pasta with lobster. The meat, on the other hand, was almost always chicken and there is the logical attention to the needs of Muslim players with regards to it being Halal.

Team building

One of the most important aspects of going on tour is the sense of camaraderie that develops, not just between players in the team but extending to the whole group that are out there.

Of course, while the players are away from their families and familiar confines, it cannot be all intense work 24/7 and so the club set up some fun activities in order to give everyone a bit of time to relax and unwind.

For example, towards the end of the trip the team and others from the delegation went to a go-karting track for a big race. There were 23 participants, and much like their lightning blonde hair suggests it was Alexis Saelemaekers and Alex Jimenez that came one and two.

In Warren the players played a bit of cards, in the first few days billiards, and even cornhole, a very American game in which you throw cloth bags filled with corn toward a platform. The goal, for those who are not familiar, is to get it in a hole on the platform – a bit of early target practice, if you will.

Another thing that emerged was the Yacine Adli story. The midfielder woke up at 5am on his day off during Milan’s tour in the United United States. He went to New York, an hour away from Milan’s hotel in New Jersey, and came back with gifts.

More specifically, he bought an NBA jersey for each team-mate, and distributed them to the team. Obviously it’s not the expense that counts – he can afford it – but the gesture is one that was very well received.

For Mike Maignan he bought a Michael Jordan jersey; Mike for Mike. For Luka Jovic he got Nikola Jokic’s, given the Serbian connection. For Tijjani Reijnders he chose LeBron James’, another all-round player that the ball always goes through.

There was plenty of time for laughs too. As captured by Rafael Leao and then published on Instagram, Francesco Camarda sang his initiation song towards the end of the trip and opted for the Italian classic ‘Sarà perché ti amo’.

Of course, the song (albeit another version) is always sung on matchdays at San Siro. Commenting on Camarda’s performance, Leao didn’t hold back as he wrote: “Good thing you know how to play football… Because you’re a terrible singer 😭😭😭😭.”

Palla al piede >>> microfono in mano 😂

“Meno male che sai giocare a calcio… Perché da cantante malissimo 😭😭😭😭”, parola di Rafael Leao 😂

🎥 Rafael Leao
🎤 Francesco Camarda#milanpress pic.twitter.com/wtASwWtj7l

— MilanPress.it (@MilanPress_it) August 4, 2024

Commercial importance

There is more to the USA trip than just what happens on the field and within the squad, however, because it has been publicly stated many times by Gerry Cardinale and the ownership that they wish to try and grow Milan’s brand globally.

The signs are good: for three consecutive years Football Benchmark had Milan as the fastest growing club in Europe in terms of business value. YouGov stated that the Rossoneri are the most appreciated Italian club in strategic markets such as the United States and China.

A press release from the club highlighted a recent study by YouGov and Men in Blazer that showed that the Diavolo’s fanbase in America had grown by 50% in just a season, just days after the club were named the fastest-growing club in Europe, which shows a glimpse of how successful the recent efforts of branching out to the American market has been.

The study claimed that Milan are the most-followed club in the country, and the previous collaborations with the New York Yankees and American streetwear brands such as PLEASURES help, as do the signings of USMNT stars Yunus Musah and Christian Pulisic.

Moving back to the recent tour, and it perhaps goes without saying that the underlying reason for making the trip across the Atlantic Ocean is economic, more medium-term than short-term. Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona organise a good part of the matches themselves and for all of them the goal is to earn money.

Those revenues come from the gate receipts at the stadium and by making the brand increasingly known in the United States, a strategic market for an American ownership like RedBird. While out there, a number of different visits were arranged to build further links.

For example, there was the strengthening of the bond with the Yankees by playing at their iconic stadium against Manchester City, as well as through Zlatan Ibrahimovic posing with stars like Aaron Judge and throwing out the first pitch.

Musah was photographed with the Chicago Bulls mascot as they exchanged jerseys, while there was also some collaboration with the Chicago Fire while out in the windy city, so it wasn’t just restricted to existing club partners.

There were some media appearances too to get the Milan brand on the big and small screen. Ibrahimovic and Pulisic went on CBS Mornings, a very popular program on American TV, and then the winger was interviewed by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.

As we have hopefully highlighted, there is far more to the USA ventures than just the 90 minutes every few days. They may well be unsociable hours for European fans, but the tours help grow the Milan brand which in turn should lead to more revenues and ambition. It’s clear now that the Rossoneri feel right at home in the States.