Good boy, Italy's No 1 player, caught out fierce campaigner (9)

I believe the answer is:

gladiator

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'player caught out fierce campaigner' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'good boy italy's no 1' is the wordplay.
'good' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'boy' becomes 'lad' (informal term for boy).
'italy' becomes 'i'.
'no a' becomes 'ator' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'g'+'lad'+'i'+'ator'='GLADIATOR'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gladiator that I've seen before include "Gold tiara (anag.)" , "Colosseum combatant" , "Roman prize-fighter" , "Man appearing in ring" , "One trained to fight in Roman arenas" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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