Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

A short flight from Atlanta to Baltimore for A.C. Milan coach Leonardo and his players - who turn the trip into an opportunity for a bit of well-earned fun.

For all Swide.com's reports from Milan's Summer Tour 2009 click here




Alarm call at 8.30 this morning for the A.C. Milan players. Breakfast with scrambled eggs, fruit, yoghurt, fruit tarts, fresh bread and Nutella. There are a few sleepy faces but everyone’s generally in a good mood. Group photo at the hotel entrance – all togged up in white polo shirts and jeans – then departure for Atlanta airport, where a private plane is to take us to Baltimore.
 

A baggage inspection at the plane’s entrance and some of the boys – Ronaldinho, Borriello, Gattuso and Pato – joke with the policemen as they check their belongings. The guys intially get a couple of stern looks, but these soon melt into smiles and laughs. Once aboard the plane, the players pass out!

It’s a short flight: just an hour and a half. Before take-off, from the back rows of the plane, the pillows handed out by the flight attendants start to fly. Things kick off immediately and in a matter of seconds a full-blown pillow fight is in progress, with the onboard staff struggle in vain to keep things in check.

The players land in Baltimore and are immediately transferred to the hotel, where they find dozens of fans waiting for the players at the hotel's entrance. After lunch, the team goes for a stroll around the harbour.

Training was due to take place at the M&T Stadium – an imposing construction in the city centre – but it’s cancelled due to the torrential rain that has fallen over the last few days. The team is then transferred to a nearby campus for a run-about and a very light training session.

As 17,000 fans have already bought a ticket to watch the training session however, the players head back to the M&T Stadium to meet the fans and have their pictures taken. When they arrive, around 8.15pm, there are still 7,000 people who have been waiting patiently all afternoon to meet their idols.

The players are very patient themselves and they sit down to sign autographs. Head coach Leonardo is also with them. In the queue there are fans from all over the world, including lots of Brazilians who make straight for their Rossoneri compatriots to get Brazil shirts signed. Pato, Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva greet them affectionately. All the players are very accommodating, and with so much enthusiasm the autograph session ends up lasting longer than planned. Finally the players head back to the hotel for dinner.

 

At around 9.30pm comes the most welcome surprise of all. Baltimore is also hosting Chelsea, Milan's opponents in the second game of the World Football Challenge tournament, and ex-coach Carlo Ancelotti plus two other familiar faces, Bruno Demichelis and Andriy Shevchenko, turn up unexpectedly to greet their old friends and team-mates. Applause breaks out when the dining-room doors open. The guys seem emotional and happy – it’s a pretty nostalgic moment. But the tournament goes on and tomorrow they play against none other than Ancelotti’s Chelsea.

Francesca Scarpa

Photo Editing: Giuliano Federico

Source: www.acmilan.com

Photo Credits: Stefano Guindani Photography

****For more exclusive backstage shots of Milan's summer tour see***
www.flickr.com/photos/swide/sets

 

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