When he was little, with dreams under construction, he was a full-back. He didn’t like being in the centre: he liked to go and search the opponent’s half of the pitch, he felt like an attacking winger. A modern Antonio Cabrini, with a velvet left foot. Destiny brought him to the center and he likes it, he doesn’t hold back. Especially if Thiago Motta asked him for this sacrifice first and then Luciano Spalletti. That Rik, the only man on the wing, is now (almost) no longer there, he disappeared with that dramatic injury suffered in 2018, when he was just sixteen years old, in full growth, when he, born in 2002, was envied by his colleagues from 2001, who they had less talent and less perspective. Calafiori is a Roman from northern Rome, the son of the sacrifices of his parents, Barbara and Alberto, who followed and supported him, accompanied him in difficult moments, up until this blue explosion.
HALF DAY FREE
Always with him, together with his little sister Rebecca. Also unmissable at his side is his girlfriend, Benedetta, who kissed him in front of the cameras after the brace against Juventus and the conquest of the Champions League with Bologna and is now here with him, present at the stadium and yesterday around Dortmund: the team he had half a day free, very few remained in Iserlohn. That kiss on live TV reminded most of that of the Spanish journalist, Sara Carbonero, who however suffered it – worldwide – from Casillas. There is a strong bond between Benedetta and Rik, imprinted on their skin, tattooed with the Japanese phrase Koi no Yokan which means “feeling of love”. The same one that now links Calafiori to the blue colours. A love born suddenly, almost a crush that the coach had for him, exploded in Motta’s Bologna. Lucio wanted to call him up for the March tour in the States, but priority was given to the Under 21s, who were supposed to play the European Championship. Then he was included in the list of 29 (30 if we count Acerbi) for the European Championship, but no one ever thought that he would be excluded. And in fact, not only has he remained, but he is now a starter for Italy.
THE DREAM IS REAL
It seems like a dream: him in the national team, maybe that was enough for him, even playing zero minutes. And instead came the debut in Bologna against Turkey, then the one as a starter against Bosnia and then the “first” in a European Championship, as the second youngest in the history of the Azzurri (the first, Maldini in 1988, right here in Germany) . That dream which in 2018 was impossible, given the injury he had suffered. On the pitch as a substitute – during Roma-Viktoria Plzen, Youth League match – for teammate Freddi Greco (now at Vicenza), an unholy entry (by Svoboda) and Rik on the ground in tears. Knee explosion and career at risk: menisci, ligaments and capsule need to be reconstructed. At risk for everyone, not for him and his family: they relied on Mino Raiola, who sent him to the USA, to Pittsburgh, to the luminary, Freddie Fu (who passed away in 2021), who operated on Ibra and who put him back on the field when he was almost forty years old. «I never thought of giving up, of quitting, but in fact I couldn’t wait to get back on the pitch. And I did everything: with hindsight I think I came back better than before.” And it shows. Everyone saw it, in Dortmund they also understood it on the international level. «I often look back at the memories of the rehabilitation period, the time spent in America. I think it’s all connected: without those bad moments I wouldn’t have experienced these good moments. The family was close to me and continues to be close to me even at a distance: that injury helped me and, after years, it arouses positive emotions and gives me energy to look forward.” Next is Spain. Adelante.
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