AC Milan have arrived in Australia ahead of their post-season friendly against AS Roma and temporary coach Daniele Bonera has spoken to the press.
Bonera and right-back Davide Calabria held a press conference once the team arrived in Perth ready for the friendly on Friday night.
It is a match that has led to a lot of criticism given the known physical demands on footballers as post-season friendlies are not the norm, especially given many players will be taking part in EURO 2024 as well this summer.
The press conference (via Milan News) was held by the Western Australian Government and it featured, Bonera, Calabria, and Roma coach Daniele De Rossi and defender Chris Smalling.
Bonera is taking charge of this match as Stefano Pioli is no longer the coach and he has not been officially replaced, although the assumption is that Paulo Fonseca will take the role.
Bonera explained how proud Milan are to be in Australia, saying: “We are very proud to be here, also because there are many Italians here and we have many fans. We hope to honour this great invitation with a good game.”
As Calabria says, Milan have not played a friendly in Australia before so fans who don’t usually get to see the team will be pleased.
“We’re happy to be here in a country we’ve never been to before. We immediately understood the support of the people here, we are very pleased to be here. It’s an honour and a pleasure, Milan is known all over the world,” he said.
Bonera was the natural choice for the friendly as he is poised to lead the Milan U23 team next season.
Pretty sure Milan played in Australia in the early 90’s. In Melbourne to be exact
Before Mrs Calabria had expressed her son presumably…