Italy, controversy over Calafiori after the video in which he gives his shirt to a child. His response: “You scare me”
A small controversy has broken out over a gesture made by Riccardo Calafiori after Turkey-Italy, a match Mancini’s side won emphatically and one the Arsenal defender did not feature in because of rotation.
Although he spent the full 90 minutes on the bench, the left-footed Roman still produced a lovely gesture towards a young Turkish fan who asked him for his shirt. The youngster got what he wanted and went wild with joy, in a lovely moment caught by the cameras that quickly became viral everywhere. The clip spread so widely that some people used it as a pretext to denigrate Calafiori himself. On Instagram, he responded to the attacks against him with a message that was harsh in tone too.
After the 4-1 away win, Calafiori returned to the pitch with the rest of the team-mates who had not played for the recovery session. A young boy then approached him and asked for his shirt, a request granted by the full-back, who made the little Turkish boy's dream come true.
Some users, though, felt the Italian had shown little attention towards the boy, almost snubbing him in fact. The accusation annoyed Calafiori, who then decided to respond on Instagram. "You honestly scare me a bit. Leaving aside the fact that I think you can clearly see the emotion and happiness on my face, looking back at the video I would have given him another hug or given him a few more strokes, but unfortunately I let myself be distracted by another boy who at that moment was also asking me for the shirt I had promised him before (you can see it in the video). But that's not the point, what scares me is how even in a scene as pure as this, you go looking for the mistake, to generate hatred, envy or simply to be the main character under a video with lots of views, I ask myself? Going back to the other evening, my emotion certainly does not even come close to the child's, and that is a wonderful thing, because I remember very well what it feels like and suddenly finding yourself on the other side of it and being someone to look up to, I think that is the most rewarding thing there is".
