Riccardo Calafiori has acknowledged the ‘hurt’ of Italian football fans.Italy suffered a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in their UEFA Nations League match on Friday after goals from Mika Godts and Dodi Lukebakio sealed all three points.Italy got off to a losing start in Roberto Mancini’s second stint as managerGettyBoth goals came from defensive errors by the Azzurri.As the final whistle sounded, raucous boos rang around the sold-out Stadio Olimpico from the Italian faithful. What did Calafiori say about the fans’ full-time response?“They hurt, because at times I felt the passion of the crowd. We’ve got to do better, we all know that, starting from the next match,” Calafiori told RAI Sport afterwards.Calafiori was deployed at left-back for the first time in his senior international career, a role he traditionally adopts at club level for Arsenal. Although the Premier League winner acknowledged the fans’ frustration, he also insisted that the Azzurri need to focus on the positives that came out of the defeat.“I saw a good team in fits and starts,” he added. “We’ve just started working with a new coach, but other areas I didn’t like, we left gaps and conceded two avoidable goals. “We must try to look on the positive aspects. There is a lot of work to do, we’ve just started with a new coach, so we’ll see.”Tensions also appeared to flare after the game on the pitch, as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and Red Devils striker Romelu Lukaku clashed.Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer, who has previously playe in Italy’s Serie A, was picked up on cameras gesturing ‘2-0’ towards the Italy supporters before raising his finger to his lips to ‘ssh’ them.This angered the Manchester City keeper, who ran over to confront his opponent, forcing both officials and teammates to intervene and separate them.Tensions flared at full time between Lukaku and DonnarummaAFPMancini won the Euros in his last stintGetty“I didn’t really see, but these things happen on the field, we’ve got to move on,” Calafiori said of the heated interaction. This was the first match of the new Roberto Mancini era – his second stint with the national team – following his appointment in July.The 61-year-old took over the reins as manager after the resignation of Gennaro Gattuso following Italy’s failure to qualify for their third successive World Cup.Their failure to qualify for the expanded 48-team tournament earlier this summer also saw Italian FA president Gabriele Gravina and the team’s head of delegation Gianluigi Buffon step down. Italy hope that Mancini’s return can help them end their tournament drought, having spearheaded them to Euro 2020 glory over England, defeating the home nation on penalties at Wembley. In his first stint, he took charge of 58 games, winning 38 matches and losing on just eight occasions.