Mikel Arteta has revealed how he has been helping Ricardo Calafiori following Italy’s failure to qualify for a third successive World Cup.
Italy lost 4-1 to Bosnia and Hezegovina in the European qualifying playoff.
The Azzurris also missed out on qualifying for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
Calafiori featured for Italy in the defeat to Bosnia which saw Italy play most part of the game with 10 men.
When asked how he is helping Calafiori after Italy failed to qualify for this summers World Cup, Arteta said: “I try to lift him. I think not only for Richy, I think for Italy, I think for football. A country like them, with such a passion, such a history, not to be in a World Cup, it’s tough and I don’t think it’s good for football. That shows you as well, the difficulty of going through all those phases to earn the right to be in the competition.”
