Bologna centre-back Riccardo Calafiori says he would be ‘over the moon’ to get a call-up to the Italian national side. The young talent is on duty with the Azzurri’s U21 team at present, and spoke about his ambitions to get a call-up to the senior side, while also reflecting on his time as part of the Roma youth set-up:
“As for dreams, there’s also the one of playing for the senior national team, and I’m working hard towards that. When the time comes, I’ll be over the moon. I believe I’ve matured mentally. Living abroad in Basel and being away from home again this year has helped me grow mentally compared to last year. We take it game by game, aiming to continue like this and, why not, achieve this dream,” Calafiori remarked.
He continued, shedding light on his banter with former Roma colleagues like Bove: “I often exchange messages with my ex-teammates from Roma, like Bove, and as we say in Rome, they tease me a bit. But if we both make it to the Champions League with a fifth-place finish, I’d still be happy. I don’t particularly look up to anyone; I admire basketball players a lot, but also tennis players who face challenges alone. I’d like to learn a lot from them.”
