Riccardo Calafiori in action for Italy at Euro 2024
Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori endured a tough national team outing on Friday night as Italy fell to a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium in their Nations League opener. Italy were hoping to start life under Roberto Mancini with a bang at home in Rome, but they continued their poor form that saw them miss out on the World Cup.
Mika Godts scored for Belgium after 20 minutes and Dodi Lukebakio added another with 20 minutes remaining to seal the win. Calafiori played 90 minutes at left-back, where hasn't played a whole lot for Italy, regularly playing at centre-back, but he does, of course, play on the left for Arsenal, and it is more of a natural fit for him these days.
His performance was rated by a number of Italian publications, and most saw it as a below average performance from the left-back. TuttoSport gave Calafiori a 5.5 and reasoned: "He misplaces his passes a bit too often. And he rarely sees the ball progressing, a weapon that usually works but was completely absent last night: the only time he managed it, he almost scored."
Meanwhile, Correre dello Sport gave him a 6 and wrote: "Immediately made one, two, three surging runs forward, recalling the night in Leipzig. A trademark move for him, but this time it wasn't enough."
Italy's Riccardo Calafiori in action with Croatia's Luka Modric
Euro 2024 - Group B - Croatia v Italy - Leipzig Stadium, Leipzig, Germany - June 24, 2024 Italy's Riccardo Calafiori in action with Croatia's Luka Modric REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth
Corriere della Sera gave the Arsenal defender a 5.5 and reasoned: "'You have to go,' Mancini shouts at him. He follows instructions, but his teammates never see him. Yet, much more is expected from someone with his ability."
From those reviews, it seems Calafiori was far from the reason his side lost on Friday, but he didn't offer enough going forward, with Italy having struggled to create quality chances, only managing five shots on target compared to Belgium's eight. Mancini's men are back in action on Monday night, when they face Türkiye in a tough-looking away clash.
What Mancini said about Italy's performance
Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini gestures while facing Bahrain
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Mancini said: "When you lose it seems quite normal to hear them. We just have to work, that's all. We know these will be some pretty tough matches, like the one against Belgium. We have to keep working and not get discouraged by a loss or two."
He added: "This is it, we played against an excellent team and in the first half they put us in difficulty, we suffered," Mancini said. "But in the second half we did the first 25 minutes very well, pressing well and having opportunities, we were unlucky, then once we conceded the second goal the game was over."
Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres