The famous Italian soccer team AC Milan [2] landed in New York City, ready to start the International Champions Cup Tour, playing across the US and Canada. While in the Big Apple, the Rossoneri also met their fans inside an exceptional location: the Adidas Store [3] at 610 Broadway. This brief stop to present their new team jersey, made hundreds of their fans, who stood in line since early in the morning in front of the store, very happy.

The hot summer temperatures didn’t stop anyone from being there to see the soccer team. Adults and kids wearing  Milan’s jerseys and holding cameras in anticipation to see their favorite players, get their autographs and why not, maybe also take a “selfie” to post immediately on Facebook and make their friends jealous.

i-Italy, of course could not miss this event, especially since some of us are AC Milan [2] fans! (Excluding our Editor in Chief, who supports the Roma team and she’ll be happy that I made that clear!)

When coach Filippo Inzaghi and his team arrived at the Adidas Store [3] on Broadway, the fans welcomed them with a lot of enthusiasm and affection. The second floor of the store had been set up for the autograph signing session and interviews by the international press, which also attended the event.

i-Italy asked some of the AC Milan players how does it feel to be here in the US.

“We are very excited to be here,” said Jérémy Ménez, forward and centerfield who will be starting his first season at AC Milan. “It’s gonna be a great tour throughout the two countries and it would be nice to win it!”

“This tour in the US and Canada means a lot to the team because it will prepare us to face the next season, which we expect to be better than the last one” affirmed Mattia De Sciglio, defender of the team.

We also wanted to know from the players what did they think about American soccer teams, whose level has really increased over the years and they demonstrated it during the World Cup in Brazil.

“I am sure the level of American soccer teams will increase,” said Ménez. “Moreover, now they will have great players like Kaka and maybe Robinho, so we’ll see what will happen.”

Among the fans who were at the Adidas Store to meet the AC Milan players, we were surprised to see that there were a lot of Americans. Soccer is not very popular in the US compared to basketball or football. However, especially after the World Cup in Brazil, Americans became more passionate about soccer.

“I think American soccer is starting to improve, even though there is still a long way to go before it reaches the level of Italian, Spanish or German soccer” said one of the fans after having collected all the autographs of the AC Milan team.

“More and more people are getting now into soccer here, it’s a good thing. It’s a world game,” said another one.

At the end of the event, the team said goodbye to their fans and left the Adidas Store [3] to go first for a brief training in Long Island and then off to JFK airport. Destination? Canada, where the AC Milan [2] met its first rival of the International Champions Tour.