International Champions Cup 2019

'Emotion' over money

Buffon, 41, admits getting offers from England, but Juve return made 'most sense'

Gianluigi Buffon, who was in town with Juventus for the International Champions Cup, says he will continue playing so long as he still has dreams and the energy to do it. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
Gianluigi Buffon, who was in town with Juventus for the International Champions Cup, says he will continue playing so long as he still has dreams and the energy to do it. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

A lot has changed in football since Gianluigi Buffon made his debut.

In 1995, when he made his first-team bow for Parma at 17, teams could make only two substitutions while goalkeepers could still hold the ball for more than six seconds.

The perception of the professional footballer has changed, too; some are seen these days as money-grabbing mercenaries, who will play for whoever pays them most.

Not Juventus legend Buffon, the record cap-holder for Italy (176) who is regarded by many as one of the game's best shot-stoppers.

Now 41, he revealed in an exclusive interview with The Straits Times last Sunday that, after his one-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain ended in June, he turned down offers from England to return to the club where he spent 17 years.

He had been reportedly offered big-money moves to Manchester City and cross-town rivals United, as well as ambitious second-tier club Leeds United.

In an interview at the Swissotel The Stamford, where Juventus were based for last weekend's International Champions Cup, he told ST: "Yes, there were opportunities. And at my age, to receive these offers is something I am very proud of.

"I had thought about playing abroad for one more year, when I was offered this (Juve) opportunity.

"In the end, this was the outcome because I feel it was the one that made the most sense, and that gifted me the most emotion."

Juventus hailed him as a "symbol of the club" in announcing his re-signing while he said he had "returned home".

And why not? After signing from Parma in 2001, he played 656 games over 17 seasons, the longevity of his career outlasting many players'.

He won nine Serie A titles and four Italian Cups in Turin, and was also one of the players who remained at the club following their relegation to Serie B as a result of the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal that rocked Italian football in 2006.

That year, he was an integral part of the Italy team that lifted the World Cup in Germany after a penalty-shootout win over France. The final was famously remembered for Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi.

Buffon finished runner-up to Italy skipper Fabio Cannavaro for the 2006 Ballon d'Or, but believes the award will one day go to a goalkeeper again. The only one to win was Russia's Lev Yashin, in 1963.

"Once Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi stop playing, it is more likely but, even this year, I believe there is a possibility," said Buffon.

"Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, for winning the Champions League and Copa America (with Brazil) is a candidate, and I think this is cool."

It would take too many column inches to list all Buffon's milestones, yet it is a bit surprising he still has not decided if he is ready to call time on his glittering career at the end of his one-year deal at Turin.

He accepts that he has returned not as the "lead actor" but as deputy to Wojciech Szczesny, adding: "If I continue playing it's because I still have dreams. I still have the energy in my body."

And how will he know if it is time to stop?

"When it takes a little bit too long to recover from (the soreness) of training and playing," he said, with a hearty laugh.

Asked how he would sum up his career, he gazed out the 65th floor of the Swissotel, down to the city which he said reminds him of Monte Carlo, and replied: "I think that my career has been, and still is, incredible - because playing for 25 years at such a high level, although not unique, is definitely rare.

"Now I find myself happy with what I've achieved. If someone had told me when I was 30 that I would still be playing at 42, I never would have believed it.

"I have never imposed limits on myself and have always dreamed. So to describe my own career, I would give these words: passion, enthusiasm, aspiration."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 23, 2019, with the headline 'Emotion' over money. Subscribe