nss in Chicago with AC Milan & adidas Football

When I received the call from adidas Italian team that informed me about the experience I am going to tell you about, I didn’t realise it immediately. A few hours before the departure on July 22nd, I realised that I was leaving for the US alongside my favourite team: the AC Milan. A trip organised by adidas to allow me to follow everything before and during Milan-Bayern Monaco’s match in Chicago, and discover the team’s new uniform Away.

The excitement begins when the team and the staff all arrive on time at the check-in. It doesn’t seem real to do these usual procedures with the players and the coach.

I meet Matt, who will be my tutor for the whole trip. He is part of adidas Football team for this project: a good character, American by birth but living in Europe, namely in Germany for 7 years, who told me about football, the upcoming releases on the calendar and some projects under construction.

We leave for Chicago and after a 10-hour flight we arrive in this big metropolis, very hot in summer and ice-cold in winter. We will be staying at the Peninsula, where the AC Milan team has the entire sixth floor available for meetings, lunches and dinners. My experience starts from the next day: the first training session of the team in Chicago.

 

 

The first training session

I get ready very soon and bring with me a great desire to shoot. The players arrive on the pitch belonging to the Chicago Flames, a place where you meet Football, Baseball and Basketball, everything perfectly maintained and well organised, typical of American culture. After a brief warm up inside the gym, come the first famous faces. A few lucky guests were able to witness this first training session, including myself, and after a trip to the locker room, where I’m able to see up close the tools of the trade of some of the best Milan players, I start to take pictures. The workout is divided between goalkeepers and the rest of the team, is purely physical. I manage to approach the 4 goalkeepers of the team – Diego Lopez, Donnarumma, Gabriel, Livieri – and I realize how much work is behind the preparation the coach Magni makes them do.

The session ends with a small event organised by adidas, a technical race between PRO against young promises, a group of four boys aged between 12 and 18 who challenge Bonaventura, Matri, Menez and Antonelli to kick against bar on goal the angle and score 35, 50 and 70 meters without touching the ball on the ground. Inevitable to say that the guys have tried hard, and somebody was really very good. In the end everyone was very happy, big hugs and usual photos.

 

 

The city

My second day in Chicago was about exploring the city. Chicago has so much to offer, but I am more surprised by Lake Michigan, so big that you cannot see the other shore. Then skyscrapers, sports shops and the museums dedicated to their local teams let you imagine how hot this city is on the sports theme. I also get to see the Giant Bean up close, a beautiful property, so crowded with tourists and people from around the world.

 

The event

On the third day it’s time for the event at adidas store, a meet and greet with some Milan players, who could benefit from an hour of shopping and then signatures on jerseys, footballs, photos and flags. The one that took more items is the captain Montolivo, while Jack Bonaventura chose new Basketball Skateboarding products and a really cool hat while Calabria, Matri Antonelli chose Originals products and Poli takes new Ultraboost Uncaged black.

 

The training

The fourth day was one of the most exciting for me: the team trained at the stadium where there was also the Bayern Monaco’s team, their opponent in the first match of this tour. After autographs outside the Hotel, a nice group of Milan fans have been lucky enough to meet their darlings. Here is where I see people like, Alaba, Vidal, Xabi Alonso, Ribery and my legendary former coach, and the only one that gave me the strongest emotions of all time: Mister Carletto Ancelotti.

It's great to live these moments from close, telling them through pictures, a unique feeling, from TV to reality. In the meantime, the new coach Montella is struggling with the first American press conference and after a few questions he takes the field with his new boys, all highly acclaimed by fans who came to attend the open training.

The field is not great, the grass is not perfect, but the stadium is electrifying and promises to be sold out on the next day. Some fans call Niang, but exchanging it for Balotelli, and he says "Hey but I’m nicer don’t you see?", many call Honda instead, and it is no coincidence that those of the Japanese are the best selling jerseys of the team. The staff is on the field, Milan lab is ready, but then another legend of Italian Football arrives: the Captain par excellence Franco Baresi, celebrating with the usual photos his presence next to the Audi sponsors. The session begins, Magni is with the goalkeepers, Montella and Nicola Caccia with the rest of the group, this time there is so much ball around and while Gigio and Lopez foil high balls the guys in the middle train their ball possession.

 

The match

On the fifth day it was the turn of the Match! We hope to bring home a good result. Arrived at the stadium, packed, AC Milan seems to be in great shape, and with a great desire for redemption for a year that is about to begin with the question of a company that is going to go in Chinese hands, old players not appreciated by fans and new grafts totally unknown to some who have always been accustomed to seeing their team at the highest level and raise cups of all kinds. I'm confident, I saw a young, new team, but with a year more of experience, a more compact team, a strong structure formed by Donnarumma, De Sciglio and Romagnoli, Bonaventura and Montolivo, and the long-awaited Niang explosion, who last year started very well.

The game begins and the Frenchman steals a ball on the three-quarters, GOAL! Bayern are down, amazing! But then the comeback... the match went just over 3 to 3, did not expect it from Milan and that's why I gave him so much confidence, because it is a group that can still improve. The game ends on penalties with the black and red team which comes out as the winner, the captain raises the cup and my excitement is up too!

It was a unique experience, a different world seen up close. Footballers are armoured figures, always very reserved, but then you realise they are human beings and in some cases they also show to be very kind and humble. I was able to exchange a few words with Jack Bonaventura and Montolivo, two who always give everything for their jersey, I could also see that the football world is starting to get out of the stadiums, reaching the street. Stay tuned because something good is about to happen, something different.