“I still get goosebumps,” said Inter fan Angelo Ruggeri of watching his team take on their crosstown rivals AC Milan back in August 2011.

This was not a trip to the football cathedral that is San Siro, but instead a visit to China for the Supercoppa Italiana. The annual clash between the Serie A champions and the Coppa Italia winners from the previous season began more than 30 years ago, with the authorities soon deciding it was an ideal fixture to grow international interest in the league, and it has since been played outside Italy on no fewer than nine occasions.

This season’s edition – to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – will add to that list, and while the political insensitivity of that decision is unavoidable, history shows that these games provide a unique opportunity for supporters who rarely get to see their team in action.

“I distinctly remember the bus ride down to Washington D.C. with my father’s social club,” Franco Salandra from New Jersey said, recalling the 1993 clash between AC Milan and Torino held in the U.S. capital. “It was such a great environment. Then came the tailgate and that was as you could imagine. The wine, cheeses, and meats were abundant at what was the first soccer match I ever attended. It was the start of my love affair with the Rossoneri.”

That theme of fandom being fueled by a live match continued when the Supercoppa returned to America, this time at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 

“The 2003 Supercoppa was the first time I ever got to see AC Milan in a live match,” Marcello Furgiuele, president of the Rossoneri fan club in Montreal, Canada, said. “They were Champions League winners facing Juventus once again. Seeing my idol Paolo Maldini in a rematch of the European final was an incredible experience. I really got to appreciate the skill of the team in front of my eyes as opposed to watching on TV.”

How about this for an Italian Super Cup final? It happened #OnThisDay in 2003. #SuperCoppaTIM pic.twitter.com/7jdlMXhjnF

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 3, 2015

Fans of the Bianconeri continue the story as New Yorker Armando Testani, who was taken to the game by his father, explained. 

“Seeing everyone in their Juve and Milan jerseys with flags flying made me imagine what it would be like being at a stadium in Italy,” he said. “Being able to sing along as the team was playing, proudly holding my scarf up as I sang along just made my day. Hell, it made my summer at that point.

“When Juve lifted the trophy, our section erupted with cheers and it felt great to see them win something that actually mattered,” he continued. “Now my son is 12, I'm hoping to bring him to Allianz Stadium in Turin so we can have the same experience I had with my dad.”

Family ties play a huge role in such matters, as another Juve fan would add. 

“In 2003, my dad surprised my brother and me with tickets to the Supercoppa,” New Jersey native John Cascarano said. “I had grown up a Juve fan, but back then, it wasn't easy to follow them from here in the states and that made it even more memorable.

“Ultimately, it was my first-ever time seeing Juventus live. It was an incredible game and, even though I've since seen Juventus several more times in person, both here and in Turin, that first time was particularly special. I was able to get the full experience immediately beyond the meaningless mid-summer money-generating tours that we have since come to expect in the U.S. Watching Juventus win a trophy with my family, literally about four miles from where I grew up, very few things could top that.”

Cascarano is certainly not alone in cherishing similar memories. 

“It was a lovely experience honestly, having them so close, as opposed to traveling all the way to Europe,” Juventus fan Talal Al Munayes said the 2014 Supercoppa in Doha. A visit to the team hotel saw Al Munayes collect Claudio Marchisio’s autograph, and his joy at the chance to interact with players he otherwise only saw on television is a sentiment echoed by many others.

“I arrived in Libya a day before the game and there was a real buzz around the city,” said Zak Farooq of watching his beloved Juventus take on Parma in the Libyan capital Tripoli back in 2002. “There was lots of excitement around the stadium and on the journey there. Lots of security, army and police, but there was still a great atmosphere before kickoff and after the game, the party didn’t end! We carried on with thousands of fans in the city center until the early hours. I don’t think Libya had seen anything like this before.”

Angelo Ruggeri, the vice president of the Inter supporters club in Sydney, Australia, continued that theme in his recollection of the 2011 Supercoppa against AC Milan. 

“To be able to see my team play in a neighboring country and not travel halfway across the world was too good of an opportunity to miss out on,” he said. “I traveled with other Inter club members to Beijing to watch the game at the Birds Nest Stadium, and what a feeling it was.

“It was a surreal experience. To see the crowd in either blue-and-black or red-and-black stripes made it feel as good as being in Italy. The Chinese fans really got into it with the chanting and singing as if it was one of their own teams from China playing. If Inter played there or in the Middle East, I wouldn’t hesitate to go again.”

There will no doubt be similar stories emerging from supporters in Jeddah this week as the Supercoppa Italiana once again allows a brand-new audience to watch their teams live at a local stadium. 

“Playing [the Supercoppa] abroad is fun,” former Milan, Juventus, and Roma boss Fabio Capello said this weekend. “In my opinion, it’s a good thing to promote Italian football around the world.”

It is impossible to argue with that sentiment, so expect a new generation of Juventus and AC Milan supporters to be telling tales of their goosebumps very soon.

Adam Digby is an Italian football writer for FourFourTwo, The Independent, and elsewhere. Author of "Juventus: A History In Black & White." Follow Adam on Twitter.