Legendary Italian Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has called time on his career at the ripe old age of 45, having spent 28 years in the game.
Playing out his final two seasons with Parma, the team he broke through at, Buffon would go on to win the World Cup withh Italy and numerous domestic honours with Juventus, save for a brief hiatus to Paris Saint-Germain.
Buffon announced his retirement on Wednesday, after which Real Madrid Manager Carlo Ancelotti called him ‘Unique, great’, on Twitter.
Unico, grande. https://t.co/yCfaO5ArZ0
— Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) August 2, 2023
Following a 3-1 preseason friendly defeat to Juventus, the team most closely associated with Buffon, Ancelotti was asked about perhaps Italy’s finest ever goalkeeper.
“Memories, there are many. I remember him when he was 17 years old and he looked like an extra-terrestrial.”
Ancelotti had been talking about Turkish wonderkid Arda Guler’s injury the question before, and said he saw similarities.
“A bit like Arda, he seems like an extra-terrestrial to me at his age,” he told Diario AS.
Higher praise, it is hard to come by, but Guler has reportedly blown away the Real Madrid squad and staff in training.
While Buffon had long enough to make himself a villain, at the top of the game he enjoyed the respect and admiration of the vast majority of his colleagues. Not only was he around for twice the duration of many players, at least two decades of it were at the top level.
That's all folks!
You gave me everything.
I gave you everything.
We did it together. pic.twitter.com/bGvIDsoFsG— Gianluigi Buffon (@gianluigibuffon) August 2, 2023
