"Going to the World Cup is the dream I had as a kid" — that's Riccardo Calafiori, a man who currently plays for the Premier League leaders and still sounds like a 10-year-old staring at a poster on his bedroom wall. It's hard not to respect that.
The Arsenal defender is in Florence with Italy's squad this week, preparing for Thursday's World Cup playoff against Northern Ireland in Bergamo. For Italy, this is existential — the Azzurri were knocked out in the playoffs in 2018 (Sweden) and 2022 (North Macedonia). A third consecutive absence from a World Cup would be a national catastrophe. No amount of Gattuso charm offensives changes that pressure.
Gattuso's personal touch
And Gattuso has been doing quite a lot of charming. Calafiori revealed the Italy coach called him more frequently than his own mother over the past four months — including during the muscle injury that kept him out from late December to late January. Gattuso traveled across Italy and flew abroad specifically to have dinners with his squad. Buffon, now delegation chief, and assistant Bonucci were both at the London dinner with Calafiori.
"There were a lot of soccer anecdotes shared, because the three of them have plenty of those," Calafiori said. Three World Cup winners sitting around a table with a 23-year-old who wants to get to his first one. That's a decent motivational environment.
On the pitch, Calafiori flagged Northern Ireland's set-piece threat as the key tactical concern. "Free kicks can create the difference. The margins between squads are reduced in modern football." Coming from a centre-back, that's not overthinking — that's precisely the kind of detail that decides playoff ties.
His place at Arsenal isn't guaranteed anymore
The club situation is worth understanding too. Calafiori started the season as a regular in Mikel Arteta's back line, but his injury absence gave Piero Hincapie a run — and Hincapie kept his place even after Calafiori returned. Arsenal are nine points clear of City in the Premier League, so the title is firmly in sight. But Calafiori needs to earn back his starting spot to actually be part of that story.
Arsenal's defensive odds for the rest of the season look solid regardless — the squad depth is real — but from Calafiori's personal perspective, the next two weeks are about proving he belongs in two squads simultaneously. Italy need him to be sharp on Thursday. Arsenal need him fully fit for the final stretch.
Win in Bergamo, then win away against Wales or Bosnia next week, and the dream is alive. Italy have been here before and blown it. "We know how delicate it is," Calafiori said. He's right.
