The Legendary Gigi Buffon Finally Retires
The legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has finally decided to hang up the boots at the age of 45. He announced his retirement on social media on Wednesday, a day after soccer insider Fabrizio Romano claimed Buffon would retire soon.
That’s all folks! You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We did it together,” Buffon said.
After an illustrious 28-year career that has many calling him one of the best, if not the best, goalkeepers in history, Buffon will at long last move on to the next stage of his life.
He spent the last two seasons with his childhood club Parma in Serie B. He signed a contract extension with the club in February 2022 that would have kept him with Parma through the end of 2024. However, Buffon has instead decided to retire now, likely due to injuries and Parma’s failed attempt to get promoted to Serie A.
He suffered multiple injuries last season, including a hamstring injury that kept him off the field for three months. Parma also finished in fourth place in Serie B, which was not good enough to secure automatic promotion. They lost in the semifinals of the promotional playoffs, meaning Parma would remain in Serie B for the 2023-2024 season.
Buffon is most famous for his time as Juventus’s star goalkeeper. He spent nearly two decades in Turin with Juve, amassing 685 appearances and winning 10 Serie A titles, five Coppa Italias and six Supercoppa Italianas.
He holds the record for the most appearances in Serie A (648), the longest time in Serie A without conceding (974 minutes) and the most league titles in the Serie A era (since 1927).
Buffon also was a key part of the Italian national team from 1997 until 2018. He is Italy’s record appearance maker with 176 caps to his name and was part of the Italian team that won the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Soccer lost one of its all-time legends today. We will miss you, Gigi Buffon. Best of luck with the next stage of your life!
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