A striking moment occurred on Thursday evening in the final phase of the quarter-final of the Europa League between Ajax and AS Roma, when a ball boy threw a ball in the face at Roma left back Riccardo Calafiori. With a 1-2 lead, Calafiori took all the time in injury time to pick up the ball to take a throw-in, after which he got the ball thrown at him by the ball boy, who in turn wanted to speed up significantly. “I won’t say that I respect him, but I understand”, Calafiori responded after the victory in Amsterdam.
Calafiori got the ball full in his face, after which he reacted angrily towards the ball boy. Russian referee Sergei Karasev eventually punished the eighteen-year-old defender with a yellow card for delaying time. “There was a lot going through my mind at the time,” said Calafiori opposite Sky Italia. “Fortunately I stayed calm. I would also get annoyed if my opponent was stalling in such a situation,” said the defender understandingly.
Time wasting in the Johan Cruijff Arena is punished twice. ?? #ajarom #UEL pic.twitter.com/RxdUKbLiGb
– VTBL? (@vtbl) April 8, 2021
In the studio of ESPN Kenneth Perez gave the ball boy the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t think he saw it,” said the analyst. “He threw a bit like Tadic took the penalty”, Arnold Bruggink added with a laugh. “Calafiori doesn’t have to lie down, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.” The former attacker added with a wink that ‘today’s youth no longer has any respect’. “I think he is a real Amsterdammer.”
Ajax took a 1-0 lead through Davy Klaassen in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Thursday evening in the first half. In the second half, coach Erik ten Hag’s team received a penalty kick, which Dusan Tadic missed. Lorenzo Pellegrini signed from a free kick for the equalizer after a blunder by Kjell Scherpen. Ajax then got several chances to take the lead, but it was Roma that took the longest through Roger Ibanez: 1-2.