Now it’s all true: even Gigi Buffon, from this morning, Wednesday 2 August 2023, is part of the “football nostalgia”, having decided to hang up his gloves and boots at the age of 45.
The goalkeeper of the national team, Parma, Juventus, PSG and, again, Juventus and Parma, in a real “circle”, has decided to put an end to a fantastic adventure.
“That’s all. You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We won together.” With these words, Buffon has published a video – which we also publish – in which he summarizes his formidable career.
“Twenty-eight years, which have flown by. It seems to me an incredible, unthinkable result. Above all for the continuity of performance: it is the aspect that most determines the value of my sports career. I put a lot of passion, dedication, enthusiasm and joy into it. My sporting history began on 19 November 1995 with my debut in Serie A and ended on 30 May 2023 with my last one in Serie B. I want to thank Parma and its people because they really made me feel so loved, even in these two years, as well as the Juventus fans and everyone who supported me in this wonderful adventure” Buffon said.
Juventus greeting: “Thank you Gigi!”
Juventus, through its website, wanted to thank and greet its former captain:
“Dear Gigi,
today it is very difficult to find the right words.
It’s very difficult to talk about a football that today greets its number 1 par excellence.
We have already said goodbye, we have already celebrated the unrepeatable story we lived together, but every time we were aware that you would continue to make fun of time. This time we know that you have decided to put an end to it and take off for the last time those gloves with which you have been able to shape an extraordinary career.
Today, once again, we thank you, knowing that this is one of those moments that will be remembered in the history of football. Because you weren’t just the strongest, you did the most. You gave a face to a role, you became THE goalkeeper.
There are those who approached football seeing you already in the Olympus of the greatest, perhaps fascinated by what you were able to do between the posts. There are those who saw you take your first steps on the pitch, spotting an incredible talent and then marveling at how boundless, infinite that talent was. Because, let’s face it, you amazed everyone, even those who had the highest expectations, because what you were able to do was simply unimaginable. There are those who have seen other very great ones and thought they had seen everything, perhaps with the belief that the new can rarely really come close to history, and instead they saw you erasing beliefs and rewriting the concept of unsurpassed, unbeatable and eternal.
You were the player who wore our shirt for the longest time, the one who won the most titles, the second ever number of appearances, obviously the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. You have been our captain and our bulwark. You were just Gigi.
On this day we will all think back to your incredible parades, the way you have gone through history, greeting phenomena and seeing their heirs emerge. And you always there. The constant, the certainty, the champion who with a smile knew how to banish all fear and give fans and teammates the feeling of being truly inviolable. You made dreams come true.
Today an era ends and we are deeply honored to have lived it. We have been part of your story and you have been part of ours.
Thank you Gigi! Good luck in your new life.”
