Jose Mourinho has reiterated that he would love to see soccer have a bigger impact in America. Speaking to Luis Bueno for Sports Illustrated, Mourinho sees Inter Milan's visit to America as a great opportunity for his team to expand their horizons and go some way to help establish an enthusiasm for soccer in America.

"It's a big opportunity for Inter Milan to go abroad, because over the past five years, Inter always did the preseason in Italy [in front of] the fan base they already had in the country." Mourinho said. "This is the first big opportunity to come to the States and work the fan base that Inter probably doesn't have at this moment, despite so many Italians and second-, third- and fourth-generation Italian-Americans in the States.

"It's the kind of country where I would love to see soccer have a bigger impact, which I know is not easy because of the American culture of American sports. Every game will be an important one, a massive opportunity to show our game and to make people enthusiastic about it. I understand that MLS is becoming better and better but it's still very far from [European standards]. If soccer wants to go in the right direction in this country, this is the kind of opportunity to motivate people."