{"id":793296,"date":"2026-10-06T03:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T03:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793296\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T03:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T03:12:14","slug":"calafiori-written-in-the-stars-first-italy-goal-in-bologna-thank-you-bonucci-for-3-1-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793296\/","title":{"rendered":"Calafiori: ‘Written in the stars first Italy goal in Bologna, thank you Bonucci’ for 3-1 victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BOLOGNA<\/p>\n

BOLOGNA – OCTOBER 05: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy celebrates scoring his team\u2019s second goal during the UEFA Nations League 2026\/27 group phase match between Italy and T\u00fcrkiye at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium on October 05, 2026 in Bologna. (Photo by Marco Luzzani\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Riccardo Calafiori feels it was \u2018written in the stars\u2019 his first Italy goal would be in Bologna, while he credits Leonardo Bonucci for the set play routine against Turkiye. \u2018He\u2019s egocentric!\u2019<\/p>\n

There were nine changes from the side that drew 1-1 in France, and that showed with a more sluggish and disjointed performance at the Stadio Dall\u2019Ara in Bologna.<\/p>\n

Gianluca Scamacca had opened the scoring, with Aral Simsir earning a more than deserved Turkish equaliser, but that\u2019s when substitutes Riccardo Calafiori and Pio Esposito stepped up to bolster the final 3-1 result.<\/a><\/p>\n

It was the Arsenal defender\u2019s first ever goal for his country at senior level in his 17th cap, although the vast majority of those have been at centre-back and not left-back.<\/p>\n

Calafiori eternal bond with Bologna\"BOLOGNABOLOGNA \u2013 OCTOBER 05: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy scores his team\u2019s second goal past Ugurcan Cakir of Turkiye during the UEFA Nations League 2026\/27 group phase match between Italy and T\u00fcrkiye at Renato Dall\u2019Ara Stadium on October 05, 2026 in Bologna. (Photo by Marco Luzzani\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis afternoon, I had told Scamacca when we were sunbathing that he would score, and it went well, for both of us!\u201d Calafiori told Sky Sport Italia.<\/a><\/p>\n

Destiny really was on his side, because the defender really made his mark when playing for Bologna before the transfer to Arsenal, so was on familiar territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all written in the stars, as I made my debut here, scored my first goal, I owe a lot to this city and these fans. I wanted to repay them, it was emotional. I hadn\u2019t felt a game like this in my stomach for a long time, it really hit me, I was very emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BOLOGNABOLOGNA \u2013 OCTOBER 05: Roberto Mancini, Manager of Italy, during the national anthem before the UEFA Nations League 2026\/27 group phase match between Italy and T\u00fcrkiye at Renato Dall\u2019Ara Stadium on October 05, 2026 in Bologna. (Photo by Marco Luzzani\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The goal was from a set play, Nicol\u00f2 Barella pumping the free kick to the back post for Calafiori\u2019s looping header. Did they work on that in training with Leonardo Bonucci?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to improve, as we can do better in every aspect. Actually, I have to confess that Bonucci told me initially to stay back, but at the last second he went actually you go and Kayode stay behind,\u201d revealed the defender.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a smart intuition and so Bonucci deserves a special mention, especially as he\u2019s quite egocentric and wants me to say that,\u201d laughed Calafiori.<\/p>\n

\"BOLOGNABOLOGNA \u2013 OCTOBER 05: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy celebrates scoring his team\u2019s second goal during the UEFA Nations League 2026\/27 group phase match between Italy and T\u00fcrkiye at Renato Dall\u2019Ara Stadium on October 05, 2026 in Bologna. (Photo by Marco Luzzani\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

This run of four games in 11 days concludes therefore with a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium, two victories against Turkiye, plus a creditable 1-1 draw away to France.<\/p>\n

\u201cMancini gives us a sense of calm, lets us be free, but with a single idea for the team that we can all focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Italy 3-1 Turkiye<\/a><\/p>\n

France came back from a goal down to beat Belgium 4-1, so Italy go into second place in Nations League Group A on seven points, leaving Kevin De Bruyne\u2019s side behind on six.<\/p>\n

It feels a very far cry from the opening 2-0 home defeat to Belgium that had the Italian media in crisis mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings have changed in just a few days, we had said in the first interview we couldn\u2019t see the work develop in three days, but honestly not after two weeks either,\u201d concluded Calafiori.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still a lot to be done, we\u2019ve improved, but can do much better, and then we\u2019ll have our say in the last two matches.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tPost navigation
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOLOGNA – OCTOBER 05: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy celebrates scoring his team\u2019s second goal during the UEFA Nations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-793296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}