Thiago Motta was right, “Calafiori is also beautiful”. Crazy, like a goal by Italy in the last second of the last minute of injury time. The goal against Croatia was scored by Zaccagni and the stamp of King Richard the Fair. With his elegant gait he crossed the field without frenzy, with the confidence of the strong he placed the right assist, a rope to pull Italy up from the well into which they had fallen. That passage is the summary of Calafiori’s career.
The injury at 16 years old
Very young Roma talent devastated by a knee injury, “an accident more related to motocross than football” said the doctors. A year off to fix all the ligaments and menisci, crushed as if in a terrifying crash, when he was just 16 years old. It could have cost him his career, he paid a very high price. Stopped an entire season. At Roma he met Mourinho for a moment, De Rossi accompanied him to training. Waiting for a kid in a big team is difficult. The unfortunate spell at Genoa could have been the last stage of his journey. It started again outside Italy, with the Swiss Basel, in a second-rate championship. Bologna and Sartori’s long eye caught him there.
The liberating cry
Born a full-back, before letting him sign the contract Motta asked him if he was willing to play center back: the handsome Riccardo accepted and seized the second opportunity granted by a fate that had previously been too cruel to him. The assist to Zaccagni is a handover between the past and the future. The tears at the end of the match, lying there in the middle of the pitch, are the healing drops of the phoenix reborn from its ashes and from the unfortunate own goal in the match against Spain. That liberating cry gives the powerful image of a boy stronger than everything, an example of dedication and conviction, still of a resilient young man, the anti-bamboccione. It is the calling card of the new Bologna who are getting to know the champions of the next Champions League at the European Championships. Calafiori will be there, the hope is to always see him wearing the rossoblù shirt. Good, strong and beautiful hero. He is a son of Bologna.
