Italy will not be going to yet another World Cup following a penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia, and it was a particularly tough night for Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori.
The Arsenal defender was put in a tricky position after Alessandro Bastoni was shown a red card, and the Italian defence was forced to readjust.
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Calafiori has had a tough season for club and country, having struggled for the majority of it with an injury, and now he has suffered the disappointment of missing out on World Cup qualification.
Following the crushing defeat in Bosnia, the Italian media have been reacting to the 24-year-old’s performance, and they noticed a clear issue.
Italian media slam Riccardo Calafiori’s performance vs Bosnia
Italian media have slammed the performance of Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori after Bosnia ended their World Cup dreams.
Italy had control of the game after Moises Kean gave them the lead in the 15th minute; however, it all fell apart when Bastoni was sent off just before half-time.
Bosnia ended up equalising with ten minutes remaining and took the tie to a penalty shootout, where they won 4-1.
Following a defensive reshuffle, Calafiori was forced to play in a middle centre-back role in a back four, and the Arsenal star seemed to struggle.
He still completed nine defensive contributions and had a decent game overall, so it’s tricky to pin too much of the blame on him.
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After the game, he was given a 5/10 by Sky Sport, who wrote: “He can’t double Dimarco’s thrust like Bastoni could in the same position.
“He’d be better off as a full-back or a centre-back with a licence to attack. So he becomes a middle-of-the-road player who doesn’t allow his international prowess to be appreciated. Tasteless.”
Meanwhile, Calciomercato gave him 5.5 and said: “Today isn’t the game for overlapping and pushing. It was a tough, complex match.”
There was also a 5.5 rating from Tuttosport, who claimed: “He has to defend himself on the barricades, which is not his job.”
It has not been an easy season thus far for the Italian defender, but he will be hoping to use all this disappointment as fuel to finish it by lifting silverware.
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