One of the best goalkeepers in football history, Gianluigi Buffon, has retired. This was officially announced by the goalkeeper club – “Parma”. The 45-year-old legend plans to go to work for the Italian Football Federation. The peak of Superman’s great career was the 2006 World Cup victory as part of the Italian national team, in which he played 176 matches, 80 as captain.
Buffon holds many records in Serie A, in terms of the number of games (657), “dry” games (285), as well as an elegant series without goals conceded (974 minutes). He is also the unrivaled legend of Juventus, for whom he played in Serie B after the club’s suspension. The Italian Republic Order of Merit officer long regretted not winning the Champions League, but in 2018 he was reassured by Brazilian Dani Alves. “Gigi, I would give you three Champions League titles in exchange for your World Cup victory. The Champions League is great, but winning the World Cup gives the feeling that you have done something for your land”, said the Brazilian.
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These words reminded Buffon that greatness is not measured by the number of trophies, but by the number of people you managed to make happy with your victory. And also the realization that you are just one person. But that doesn’t stop him from being Superman. You can write a lot of warm words about Buffon, but no one will do it better than Gigi. We published the goalkeeper’s letter to himself at age 17, which he wrote in The Players’ Tribune. About the importance of harmony, a role model and the power of art.
The day before Parma’s debut, he got into a fight with the police
I am writing you a letter today as an accomplished man who has experienced a lot in life and made several mistakes. Friend, I have good and bad news for you. I want to talk to you about your soul. Yes, yes, soul. Anyway, let’s start with the bad news. You are 17 years old and soon you will become a real football player, as you dreamed of. You think you know everything. But really, you don’t know shit!
Gianluigi Buffon made his Serie A debut on November 19, 1995 at the age of 17.
Photo: Getty Images
In a few days, he will have the chance to make his Serie A debut for Parma, and he is completely devoid of fear. You need to drink warm milk and go to bed, but instead you run to a nightclub with your best friend from the youth team. And in the glass you don’t have milk, but beer. Oh how cool you think you are – a real movie superhero! That’s probably why you fight with the police outside a nightclub at 1:00 in the morning.
Go home, go to bed!
And please don’t pee on the wheel of a police car! Nobody will like it, neither the police nor the club management. Especially the leadership. You risk losing everything you have worked so hard for so long. In a few days, fate will give you three things: very, very intoxicating, but at the same time very, very dangerous. Money, fame and a dream job.
Buffon in Parma
Photo: Getty Images
You think there will be no more problems. But therein lies the paradox. On the one hand, the goalkeeper must have confidence. He must be fearless. When having to choose between the most technically gifted goalkeeper in the world and the most intrepid, a coach is guaranteed to pick a fearless son of a bitch. On the other hand, a person who is not afraid of anything can forget that he is right. If you only think about football, your soul will start to wither. You’ll end up so depressed you won’t even want to get out of bed.
I imagine you laugh. What the hell is depression? But it will happen to you. This will happen at the peak of your career, when you will have everything you can dream of in life. You will be 26 years old. You will be the goalkeeper for Juventus and the Italian team. You will have money and respect. People will call you Superman. But you are not a superhero, but a person like the others. The truth is that the pressures associated with your profession can turn you into a robot. The daily grind can feel like a prison. You go to train, you come home and watch TV, you go to bed. Every day you do the same. You win, you lose. This is repeated. Vicious circle.
Buffon at Juventus
Photo: Christian Fischer/Getty Images
One morning you wake up and go to the gym, but suddenly your legs start to shake. You will be so weak that you will not be able to drive. You’ll think it’s just fatigue or a virus. But soon it will get worse. You will want to sleep all the time. In training, each stop will require incredible effort. For seven months, it will be difficult for you to enjoy life.
You probably think: “Yes, this is impossible! I am a happy person, a born leader. If I play for Juventus and win millions, I’ll be happy. I can’t be depressed”. And here I would like to ask you an important question. Why did you decide to devote your life to football, Gigi? Do you remember? Think carefully and remember every detail.
Cameroon goalkeeper inspired to become a great goalkeeper
Go back to that carefree time when you were 12 years old. Yes, in 1990 Italy hosted the World Cup. Yes, the first match was Argentina – Cameroon at the San Siro. But where were you during the first match? Closed eyes. You were in the living room, all alone. Why were there no friends around, as usual? You can’t remember. Grandma was in the kitchen preparing dinner. It was so hot that she closed all the windows to keep it cool. The room was completely dark, only a yellow light came from the television. Do you see?
You see this strange name. CAMEROON. You don’t know where Cameroon is. You have no idea such a country exists. Of course, you know Argentina and Maradona, but the Cameroon players were some kind of magicians. It was unbelievably hot, but his goalie still changed into her full gear. Long black pants. Long green t-shirt with pink collar. The way he moves, the way he stays in the doorway, his amazing mustache. Inexplicably, it will captivate your heart.
Thomas N’Kono became the idol of a child from Tuscany
Photo: Peter Robinson/Getty Images
He’s the coolest person you’ve ever seen. The commentator says that his name is Thomas N’Kono. And then the magic happens. Argentina takes a corner, and Thomas goes to fight for the ball and knocks him down from 30 meters. Wow! At this very moment, you realize what you want to do in life. You want to be a goalkeeper. Become the same goalkeeper. You want to be wild, brave, free.
Minute by minute, watching the events of this game, you find yourself, as if the script of your whole life was being written. Cameroon are scoring and you are so worried about them that you cannot physically stand it. You jump off the couch. The entire second half you walk around the TV. When a second player is sent off for Cameroon, you just can’t hear. For the last five minutes, you’ve been hiding behind the TV with no sound. Sometimes you go in to see what’s going on and come back. Finally, you look outside, and the Cameroon players are celebrating this moment. You run towards the street. Two neighbors do the same. Everyone shouts: “Have you seen Cameroon? Have you seen Cameroon?
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On that day, a fire was lit in you. Cameroon really exists. Thomas N’Kono does not exist. You will show the world that Buffon exists. That’s why you become a footballer. Not for money and fame. And inspired by the skill of this man: Thomas N’Kono. Inspired by the soul of him.
You must remember: money and fame are not the goal. If you don’t take care of your soul, if you don’t look for inspiration in things that don’t have to do with football, then you start to degrade yourself. I will give you one piece of advice: be more interested in the world around you in your younger years. It would save you and especially your family a lot of worries. Being a goalkeeper is being brave, that’s true. But, Gigi, being brave doesn’t mean being ignorant.
Chagall’s painting helped overcome depression
In the worst period of your depression, something strange and wonderful will happen. One day you decide to break the usual course of events and go to another restaurant in Turin for breakfast. You will take a different path and pass by an art museum where you will see a sign with Chagall’s name on it. You’ve heard this name, but you don’t know anything about art. You have things to do without him. Yes, you have your own way, you are Buffon. But who is Buffon? Who are you really, you know?
Here is the main part of this letter. You have to go to the museum that day. This will be the most important decision of your life. If you don’t go into this museum and you are still a football player, Superman, then you will keep locking your feelings in yourself and your soul will collapse and suffer. But if you go inside, you will see hundreds of Chagall paintings. Most of them will not resonate with you. There will be good ones, there will be interesting ones, or those that will not tell you anything.
But then you will see an image that will hit you like lightning. It’s called “The Walk”. It looks like a child’s drawing. A man and a woman in the park on a picnic, everything is magical. A woman soars in the sky like an angel, a man stands on the ground, holds her hand and smiles. You seem to plunge into a child’s dream! This image conveys something from another world. You will feel like a child again. Remember what true happiness is. Think of Thomas N’Kono kicking the ball 30 meters. Think of your grandmother calling you from the kitchen. You will remember how you used to sit in the dark in front of the TV and pray. As we get older, we just forget about those things.
The majestic creation of Marc Chagall “Walk”
Photo: RIA Novosti
You must return to the museum the next day. It is important. The cashier will look at you with a smile and ask, “Weren’t you here yesterday?” It doesn’t matter. Go there again. Art will be the best medicine for you. When you open your mind, the inner heaviness will evaporate, like a woman in a Chagall painting soars. There is incredible irony in this episode. Sometimes I feel that life is written for us. So many inexplicable and beautiful things that happen to you seem to be interconnected. This is one of them.
He was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan of the far-right fascists
When you are a young player in Parma, some ignorant actions will leave their scars. Before a big game, you want to do something to show your teammates and fans that you are a leader, a brave man, and a great person. Therefore, you will write on a T-shirt a phrase that you once saw on a school desk. You will write: “Death to cowards.” You will think that this is just a motivational exclamation. You will not know that this is the slogan of the far-right fascists.
This is one of the monster bugs that will cause a lot of trouble for your family. But these mistakes are important because they remind you that you are human. They will remind you over and over again that you know nothing, my friend. It’s good because football will convince you again that you are special. But you must remember that you are no different from the bartender and electrician with whom you will be friends for life.
Does it feel like yesterday?
Photo
Buffon played the last game for Juventus. you will also pay
This will help you get out of depression. Not the feeling that you are special, but the realization that you are the same as everyone else. You won’t understand this at 17, but I assure you that true courage is showing your weaknesses and not being ashamed of them. You deserve a godsend, Gigi. Like everything. Remember this.
Many things are interconnected, and you are still too young and naive to understand this. My only regret is that you didn’t understand this sooner. Maybe it’s just your nature. Even in your fifth decade, you will still feel the fire inside. You will still be dissatisfied, sorry to say. Even the World Cup in the hands will not help to get rid of this feeling. Until the season passes without conceding a single goal, he will not rest.
Gigi realized in time that it is not money that makes a person happy, but harmony with oneself and the world.
Photo: Nicolò Campo/Getty Images
You have always been like this. Do you remember the winter when you went to visit your uncle in Udine, who lived in the mountains? Or only old people remember this? You were four years old. It snowed all night. You’ve never seen snow before. You woke up, looked out the window and saw what you could only dream of. The whole town turned white.
You ran out in your pajamas and you didn’t even know what snow was. But you didn’t hesitate for a moment. You looked at the white snowdrift and what did you do? Did you think? Did you run into the house for a jacket? No, you just jumped into it. Brave. The grandmother shouted: “Gianluigi! No! No! No! No!” You were drenched and lying in bed with a high fever for a whole week. But you didn’t care. No hesitation. Right in the snow.
It’s you. You are Buffon. You showed the world that you exist.
