Italy has come together these days to prepare for the commitments of these days, in view of the European Championship that will be held in the summer. In addition to the senior national team, however, the Under 21 team has also gathered to train for the matches against Latvia and Turkey. From the retreat of the young Azzurri, Riccardo Calafiori, former Roma defender now one of the key players of Bologna, spoke. From the past to the present, to move on to the Champions League fight, the twenty-one-year-old spoke about this and more to the microphones of the Football Federation, to whom he also talked about the relationship with his former team: "I often hear from my teammates at Roma, they are pulling me along" - he says jokingly -. "Let's just say that if both the fourth and fifth-placed teams went to the Champions, we would all be happy. The fact that I left Roma is part of things that can happen: I was sorry, but I never held it against the company. If we look at the journey, it went well like this. De Rossi? I am hearing from him less also because he has a lot to do these weeks".
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The defender then spoke about his rise with Bologna: "When Thiago Motta arrived he talked to me about the idea of playing me as a central defender and not as a fullback. The injury to Lucumì led me to have space: I remained calm and sure that things would go well, and so it was". On the race to the Champions then he continued: "We are very young but with some elements of experience - he says -. The union that we have off the field is also seen when we play: I have lived through several groups, but this is one of the best. The Champions? We look at it game by game, it's no coincidence we find ourselves here. It's already March, why not realize this dream?".
Calafiori continued talking then about his past, when at 16 he suffered a knee injury that brought him close to retirement: "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 lived these beautiful ones. My family has been close to me and continues to be so even from a distance: that injury helped me and, after years, it evokes positive emotions and gives me energy to look forward."
Finally, he concluded talking about the words of Spalletti: "I was very pleased, also because the senior national team is one of my goals. I dream of getting there and I try to work for it, but calmly. When it comes, if it comes, I will be very happy. The experience in Switzerland, arrived a bit out of necessity and a bit out of my own decision, kept me a bit away from the spotlight and changed me a lot, making me grow also because of the distance from home. The secret? Living calmly, continuing to commit myself as I am doing also in view of these fundamental matches for our path of qualification to the European Championship".
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