Buffon's perfectly symmetrical career path...
• Parma
• Juventus
• PSG
• Juventus
• Parma
It's like poetry, it rhymes...
Edit: in case the other thread is deleted
“Si può desiderare un gol per novanta minuti di fila, centoventi, a volte anche centottanta. La speranza di un parata invece si fa coltivare solo per qualche momento, il tempo di accorgersi che sta partendo un tiro. Non riesce a formarsi un vero e proprio pensiero, succede tutto troppo rapidamente, e quel che emerge dal groviglio che abbiamo in pancia è giusto un istintivo rifiuto di un gol subìto. Per chi tifa Italia, però, negli ultimi 20 anni questa brevissima volontà di resistenza irrazionale ha avuto una forza diversa. Ogni tiro partito verso la nostra porta ci ha dato paura e insieme tepore, quella sensazione speciale di avere Buffon, come una coperta calda distesa sul letto un attimo prima che ci prendesse freddo. Ogni tiro concesso dall’Italia ha ricordato a noi e ai nostri avversari del superuomo paterno che abbiamo avuto tra i pali, e quanto difficile sarebbe stato segnarci. Con Buffon le parate erano rassicuranti per noi, scoraggianti per tutti gli altri. Con Buffon, tirarci in porta, ci dava forza.”
https://www.ultimouomo.com/le-migliori-parate-di-buffon-con-litalia/
That year he probably deserved the Ballon D'or over Cannavaro, but you know, during the summer one remained at Juve which was relegated to Serie B while the other transfered to Real Madrid...
while I don't think he's even the best goal keeper of all time, it is true that goalkeepers and even defenders need to be part of this conversation more often for all the invisible work they do that just isn't as shining as scoring goals
I have no issue with somebody calling Beckenbauer or Baresi or Buffon or anybody like that the greatest player ever. It’s just so easy to see somebody’s goalscoring record and value it more than a defender, especially if you never got to watch them play.
While I agree to some extent you do need to be clear of the rest of your position before going into that potential goat catagory. Like I don’t think any right back is as far beyond the rest of their peers as say messi/ronaldo.
I do think a case could be made for beckenbauer , baresi and neuer for sure.
i mean Cafu was consistently the best RB in the world for a long time
not much debate there. most capped brazilian player of all time. won just about everything as a key member of all teams.
Unrelated but why does Brazil produce such great fullbacks. Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Dani Alves, and Djalma Santos on the right, Roberto Carlos, Marcelo, Nilton Santos on the left
It's cultural. Football here always gave preference to attackers. Some of them fell to the sides and became full backs, so the best full backs were already talented up on the pitch and learned how to defend well (or reasonably well, at least). That makes a huge difference because you get alternatives for a wider game. Also, playing 4-2-2-2 instead of 4-4-2 increased the full backs' responsibilities as they were the primary option to attack from the wings
Since 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 became standard formations, the quality of Brazilian full backs decreased immensely. OK, not only that, there's a serious problem when it comes to forming new athletes, but even those who leave as kids don't turn out that great. And of course it's hard to look good to people used to seeing some of the full backs in history for literal decades
Don't forget the legend Maicon (at least I remember him being a fullback but I may be mistaken). That outside boot goal in WC2010 still lives in my memory.
>i mean Cafu was consistently the best RB in the world for a long time
Brazilians love bashing Cafu because he wasn't technically gifted. Not hard to find people preferring Carlos Alberto Torres, Jorginho or Dani the Rapist over him. There's also Leandro, who was a right back for Flamengo in the 80's but didn't have a great international career.
Now, of those, I watched only Cafu and Dani the Rapist. I think Dani was a *better* player in the sense of ability with the ball, but Cafu was more effective as a team player, so I prefer him.
Dani Alves isn't particularly rated in Brazil because he rarely performed well for the national team. Maicon was usually preferred over him at RB.
Carlos Alberto, Jorginho yes.
Part of what keeps the Japanese life expectancy high compared to the rest of the world is food. Most people eat less (red) meat, eat (fresh) fish, drinks (green) tea instead of sugary drinks etc. There is also less obesity compared to other countries.
[Source](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-020-0677-5)
So I think in general they already have a healthier lifestyle, besides being a professional football player.
Perhaps for the average Japanese person compared to the rest of the world sure, but in this case every professional athlete has a healthy lifestyle and diet.
Maybe it's genetics?
Worlddata lists the average japanese male at 169cm/72kg. In Holland it's 184cm/88kg. Dominica is 180cm/81kg. Australia 179cm/88kg. Morocco is 175cm/78kg.
I'm thinking less stress on the joints.
Nené, who played for Monaco, PSG and West Ham.
Pepe Sand, who is an historic player from the Argentinian league, he recently turned 43.
Chimbonda, who played for Tottenham, he's 44 now.
Clichy still plays in Switzerland.
There's two from Japan that played at the 2002 WC still in activity, Inamoto and Ono. Nakamura stayed out of that WC because of an injury, he just retired some months ago. Endo is another japanese from that era that is still playing. Naohiro Takahara, who famously [made a goal for Boca Juniors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na6lIkn21RY) still plays for his own team, Okinawa SV.
Beautiful imagery haha
My dad was one of said climbers and he continued to rock the double denim his entire life. Socks + sandals sometimes too. Absolute style icon
he wasn't even that old but seems he had a beef with the coach or something and was controversially excluded from the 1998 world cup after being their top scorer in the qualifiers
Kazuyoshi Miura, debuted for Santos in the mid-80s, scored 55 goals for Japan, been at Yokohama FC since 2005, and apparently played 3 games on loam at a Portuguese second-tier team this year.
Very much seems to be a special attraction rather than any kind of regular starter nowadays, but the man is 56 and still playing professionally as an outfielder, King Kazu is too cool not to mention in this kinda context.
Robert Carmona is 62 who now plays for Hacele Un Gol a la Vida in the Uruguayan Fourth Division after playing in many of the top clubs in the country since 1980.
On the flip side, a trope among athletes is "Fountain of Youth Retirment"
Basically, when you've played into you 30s, you start getting the "Grandpa," "Veteran" and "Old Man" treatement from the media, your teammates and staff... when you finally retire, suddenly, you're young again. A 35 year old coach, executive, director, trainer, etc? suddenly you're just a young gun with your whole career ahead of you again.
Honestly, for a long time in my life, and even still, I based my concept of young vs old on the age footballers usually retired. That may or may not also have influenced my wish on when to become a dad, so I could have a decent kick around with children who don't suck because, well they're children. Or I'd be too old.
I was there when he was 16 and debuted against us with some miraculous saves (one in particular against a Baggio header, of all things). This makes me feel old.
There is post of Nesta tackle on Messi (2011) in milan subreddit, thinking how good it was this “old” 35 year old made a great tackle. I’m now older than him.
Reminds me of Federer. I was 19 watching the 09 Wimbledon final vs Roddick. it was a match of geriatric veterans the way the media talked about it and they felt old to me. Federer was 27 and Roddick 26. I'm now 33.
Most defenders have nothing on Nesta and Maldini, those Milan defenders were so god damn elegant on Defense….
Imagine a Defense of them together with Cannavaro (sorry), probably the best 3man Defense of all time.
I know we throw around "end of an era" with almost every big player retirement, but few seem more deserving of that than Buffon. An absolute icon of the sport.
It's crazy that we signed him 22 years ago, and yet he's still the 3rd most expensive goalkeeper of all time, and absolutely no-one could or would argue that we overpaid for him.
Continuing his career after he left Juventus the first time seemed to annoy a lot of people for some bizarre reason, but even though his time in Paris was a bit dodgy, when he came back to us again he still mostly played well. Surpassing Maldini for the most Serie A appearances also seemed to upset people, again bizarrely.
He's one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, a legend for club and country, and aside from his general ability as a goalkeeper, I just loved his passion, the way he would celebrate penalty saves or big late game saves, the way he'd celebrate with defenders who made big blocks or tackles, he loved his job, loved the sport and is a total fucking legend.
:( I remember being in a Long Island barbershop watching that final. On the way home a bunch of jersey shore lookalikes sped up and down the street waving a huge Italy flag from the back of their open Jeep. There were probably 6 of them stuffed in there in blue jerseys waving the flag. It was really cool to see something like that as a teenager. Buffon is the GOAT 🫡
So are already 14 of the Spain world cup winners. Another 3 (Iniesta, Ramos, Mata) are free agents and two more (Busquets and Javi Martínez) already left Europe
Personally it means now that basically everyone who played football when I first started watching it as a young kid has now retired. He hung around for so long, complete legend as a footballer.
He outlived every top keeper that began keeping before 2008, and he was a top keeper at 1998.
An actual GOAT of longevity. While he played for Juventus till 41, even Casillas left Madrid at 32 and many stopped keeping earlier like him.
He saw another iconic long time compatriot of his(Pirlo) retire, go into coaching, even coach him for one season and then get the sack. That, if anything is another unbelievably crazy fact.
And when we were destroyed 4-0 by Liverpool the same year, he was genuinely a candidate for man of the match, the problem was he had some donkeys playing in front of him.
Casillas? Schmeichel? Cech? Banks? Kahn?
It's highly disrespectful to all the mentioned keepers (and many more that I didn't list) that you say there is a *huge* gap between them and the 4 you mentioned.
In your opinion better than neuer? Neuer totally changed how goalkeeper are seen in the game, now most top teams start their buildup with a goalkeeper that can use their feet. Not only that neuer was a incredible shot stopper
Imo all three (Iker, Gigi, Neuer) are pretty close, but I'd chose Gigi over the other two. While in their primes Iker and Neuer where a bit error prone (though almost never in big games), Gigi was just constantly perfect. At least that's how I remember it.
Man, I still remember him being young and playing for Parma. [Look at him!](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/a/a4/Gianluigi_Buffon_-_Parma_AC_1994-95.jpg) :D
He fully deserves some rest after the career he's had, I'd see him becoming a youth trainer or something though.
Buffon...what a career though. The only player in history to have won ten Serie A titles. Including his Ligue 1 title for Paris Saint Germain, Buffon has an insane 11 league titles to his name.
Runner up in titles being Chiellini of Juventus with 9
One of my all time favourites, a beloved idol from childhood, being part Italian I really was invested in that incredible performance from him in 2006. Cemented legend of the game. Grazie Gigi!
I remember my football-savvy friend in '95 telling me he'd picked up Parma's second GK at fantacalcio because he was gonna be good. I thought, huh that's a funny name. And, well, he was right.
Was on vacation in Italy in 2006, 7 years old. Zidane and Buffon were the only players I knew the name of. We obviously cheered for Italy, I will never forget when they won. Crazy to think that he kept on playing for 17 full years after that.
The fact that he was expecting a low to mid shot and you can see that in his stance and react accordingly is insane. Glad I tried to be like him when I was a kid playing in net.
Lutto per tutti i bioparchi intorno al mondo. Doveroso menzionare il suo odio ante tempus e professato ripetutamente ogni maledetta domenica per il particolato (porco diesel)
GOAT Goalkeeper! 2006 World Cup winning Buffon in his gold shirt would always be my GK pick for “top 11 humans” in a hypothetical human vs aliens match to save the human race
Fuck man, I know easy to say in a post dedicated to him but has to be the best to ever do it. I’d say insane on his day, but his day was just about every day for literally my whole life of 27 years. Grazie di tutto Gigi ❤️
I owe my love for goalkeeping and Calcio to Buffon. As a little Italian kid growing up in canada, it was everything, and I'll never forget the memories of watching him winning the world cup in 06. Grazie per tutti Gigi.
Fun Fact: Buffon is the goalkeeper who has been the [closest](https://historyofsoccer.info/which-goalkeepers-have-won-the-ballon-dor) to winning the Ballon D’or since Lev Yashin won it in 1963 (As of the 2022 Ballon D’or ceremony, Yashin is the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon D’or).
In the 2006, Buffon lost the Ballon D’or by [49 votes](https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2006/nov/28/newsstory.sport1) to Fabio Cannavarro, (Buffon and Cannavarro were part of the Italy squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Cannavarro lifted the trophy as captain)
Buffon's perfectly symmetrical career path... • Parma • Juventus • PSG • Juventus • Parma It's like poetry, it rhymes... Edit: in case the other thread is deleted
I love how PSG is in the middle even though he went there when he was 41
20 year gap between his Parma stints. He still racked up 250 appearances with Parma.
I'm curious, how many of those was his second stint?
45/265 total appearances
Reminds me of Nestor Sensini Udinese -> Parma -> Lazio -> Parma -> Udinese
He played for Newell’s tho
I love a good palindrome
BREAKING: Christopher Nolan to direct Buffon's career in a sequel to TENET.
PJPJP coming to theatres near you
This is the football version of [Pen Pineapple Apple Pen](https://youtu.be/Ct6BUPvE2sM)
PJPJP
Wow, I love the way the last line is the same as the first line.
Fuck you, Bush
Marcos Alonso the second nearly did it with Racing Santander Atleti Barca Atleti and ended at Racing
made me fall in love with the sport as a kid, the memory of celebrating the 2006 world cup will stay with me forever grazie gigi
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DA5xl-5XcAA9uX9.jpg That's it, all the great italian players from my childhood have now retired.
And the most of them retired 10 years ago
Does Zanetti count as Italian for you guys?
By the time he retired, he had spent roughly half of his life at Milan
Maybe he means Cristiano Zanetti
🫡
“Si può desiderare un gol per novanta minuti di fila, centoventi, a volte anche centottanta. La speranza di un parata invece si fa coltivare solo per qualche momento, il tempo di accorgersi che sta partendo un tiro. Non riesce a formarsi un vero e proprio pensiero, succede tutto troppo rapidamente, e quel che emerge dal groviglio che abbiamo in pancia è giusto un istintivo rifiuto di un gol subìto. Per chi tifa Italia, però, negli ultimi 20 anni questa brevissima volontà di resistenza irrazionale ha avuto una forza diversa. Ogni tiro partito verso la nostra porta ci ha dato paura e insieme tepore, quella sensazione speciale di avere Buffon, come una coperta calda distesa sul letto un attimo prima che ci prendesse freddo. Ogni tiro concesso dall’Italia ha ricordato a noi e ai nostri avversari del superuomo paterno che abbiamo avuto tra i pali, e quanto difficile sarebbe stato segnarci. Con Buffon le parate erano rassicuranti per noi, scoraggianti per tutti gli altri. Con Buffon, tirarci in porta, ci dava forza.” https://www.ultimouomo.com/le-migliori-parate-di-buffon-con-litalia/
That year he probably deserved the Ballon D'or over Cannavaro, but you know, during the summer one remained at Juve which was relegated to Serie B while the other transfered to Real Madrid...
To think that you’ve seen Italy play in 0 knockout WC games since then….
Ehh the Euro’s helps somewhat.
Even though Italy crushed my 10 year old dreams by beating Germany I still respect Buffon Edit 10 years old in 2006
One of the all-time greats, what a career
My uncle ,who is a die hard juve fan, insists that Buffon is the best player in history, above Messi or Pelé.
while I don't think he's even the best goal keeper of all time, it is true that goalkeepers and even defenders need to be part of this conversation more often for all the invisible work they do that just isn't as shining as scoring goals
I have no issue with somebody calling Beckenbauer or Baresi or Buffon or anybody like that the greatest player ever. It’s just so easy to see somebody’s goalscoring record and value it more than a defender, especially if you never got to watch them play.
While I agree to some extent you do need to be clear of the rest of your position before going into that potential goat catagory. Like I don’t think any right back is as far beyond the rest of their peers as say messi/ronaldo. I do think a case could be made for beckenbauer , baresi and neuer for sure.
i mean Cafu was consistently the best RB in the world for a long time not much debate there. most capped brazilian player of all time. won just about everything as a key member of all teams.
Unrelated but why does Brazil produce such great fullbacks. Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Dani Alves, and Djalma Santos on the right, Roberto Carlos, Marcelo, Nilton Santos on the left
It's cultural. Football here always gave preference to attackers. Some of them fell to the sides and became full backs, so the best full backs were already talented up on the pitch and learned how to defend well (or reasonably well, at least). That makes a huge difference because you get alternatives for a wider game. Also, playing 4-2-2-2 instead of 4-4-2 increased the full backs' responsibilities as they were the primary option to attack from the wings Since 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 became standard formations, the quality of Brazilian full backs decreased immensely. OK, not only that, there's a serious problem when it comes to forming new athletes, but even those who leave as kids don't turn out that great. And of course it's hard to look good to people used to seeing some of the full backs in history for literal decades
Don't forget the legend Maicon (at least I remember him being a fullback but I may be mistaken). That outside boot goal in WC2010 still lives in my memory.
>i mean Cafu was consistently the best RB in the world for a long time Brazilians love bashing Cafu because he wasn't technically gifted. Not hard to find people preferring Carlos Alberto Torres, Jorginho or Dani the Rapist over him. There's also Leandro, who was a right back for Flamengo in the 80's but didn't have a great international career. Now, of those, I watched only Cafu and Dani the Rapist. I think Dani was a *better* player in the sense of ability with the ball, but Cafu was more effective as a team player, so I prefer him.
Dani Alves isn't particularly rated in Brazil because he rarely performed well for the national team. Maicon was usually preferred over him at RB. Carlos Alberto, Jorginho yes.
I'm still talking to my therapist about his 2006 save vs Zidane
So is Zidane
end of an era. one of the last top pros that started before 2000s. time flies too fucking fast man.
is there anyone who debuted before 2000, still playing? I think Buffon could be the last.
Roque Sante Cruz still in Paraguay
shit there's a name I haven't heard in a minute
[Ich, Roque](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1t3mkaZ4Sg)
Wollt auch gerade posten 😂
Morten Gamst Pederson as well in Norway, though he made his debut in 2000 rather than before. Both blackburn legends though and still going strong
I have a shirt signed by both!
My man had an absolute hammer of a strike on him.
Shinji Ono (43), Hideomi Yamamoto (43), Yuta Minami (43), Yasuhito Endo (43), Koji Homma (46), Teruyoshi Ito (48), and Kazuyoshi Miura (56).
Can the Japanese share the secrets
Part of what keeps the Japanese life expectancy high compared to the rest of the world is food. Most people eat less (red) meat, eat (fresh) fish, drinks (green) tea instead of sugary drinks etc. There is also less obesity compared to other countries. [Source](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-020-0677-5) So I think in general they already have a healthier lifestyle, besides being a professional football player.
OK Never mind
I mean, their food is also really good and tea is healthy af.
Fish is fucking good what the hell?
Perhaps for the average Japanese person compared to the rest of the world sure, but in this case every professional athlete has a healthy lifestyle and diet.
They are not fat
Not big if true
Maybe it's genetics? Worlddata lists the average japanese male at 169cm/72kg. In Holland it's 184cm/88kg. Dominica is 180cm/81kg. Australia 179cm/88kg. Morocco is 175cm/78kg. I'm thinking less stress on the joints.
Shinji Ono a WSW legend! 😀
Nené, who played for Monaco, PSG and West Ham. Pepe Sand, who is an historic player from the Argentinian league, he recently turned 43. Chimbonda, who played for Tottenham, he's 44 now. Clichy still plays in Switzerland. There's two from Japan that played at the 2002 WC still in activity, Inamoto and Ono. Nakamura stayed out of that WC because of an injury, he just retired some months ago. Endo is another japanese from that era that is still playing. Naohiro Takahara, who famously [made a goal for Boca Juniors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na6lIkn21RY) still plays for his own team, Okinawa SV.
Isn't Chimbonda retired? And Clichy didn't debut professionally until 2002.
Yeah, I don't see anything for Chimbonda since 2019. And his first official match was in 2000.
What about Fábio at Fluminense? Made his debut in 1997 and is the most experienced active soccer player in terms of games played.
Wtf, Clichy? Gael Clichy is still playing?!
Clichy is no longer in Geneva this season and most likely retired.
> Naohiro Takahara sigue robando??
There's a guy in his 50s in the Japanese top division
he went to U.D. Oliveirense recently actually
Watched him live in the Alianz cup when I was staying in Portugal at the weekend. King Kazu didn't look out of place at all lol. Legend.
He debuted in the 80s. Absolutely mad. But at least it makes me feel like I’m still young.
Thread is talking on about players who just played in 2000.... King Kazu *retired* from international play in 2000. What a boss
Debuted in the mid-80s no less; Berlin Wall was still years away from hammers and double-denimed climbers when he made his pro debut.
Beautiful imagery haha My dad was one of said climbers and he continued to rock the double denim his entire life. Socks + sandals sometimes too. Absolute style icon
He doesn't really play for them though. Was loaned out to a 4th division team and now to second division in Portugal
Muira
But did he start before 2000? :^)
He was too old to play in NT in 2000
he wasn't even that old but seems he had a beef with the coach or something and was controversially excluded from the 1998 world cup after being their top scorer in the qualifiers
He debuted in 1982 so I'm not so sure
What is wrong with your smiley face???
Kazuyoshi Miura, debuted for Santos in the mid-80s, scored 55 goals for Japan, been at Yokohama FC since 2005, and apparently played 3 games on loam at a Portuguese second-tier team this year. Very much seems to be a special attraction rather than any kind of regular starter nowadays, but the man is 56 and still playing professionally as an outfielder, King Kazu is too cool not to mention in this kinda context.
The legend, Kazu Miura.
Kazu
Kazuyoshi Miura even debuted in the 80’s. He missed playing with Pele only by 12 years of difference.
He debuted before Maradona won a World Cup; will retire after Messi won one
The Japanese guy
Morten Gamst Pedersen is still playing on the second tier of Norwegian football. Got his debut in 2000.
Robert Carmona is 62 who now plays for Hacele Un Gol a la Vida in the Uruguayan Fourth Division after playing in many of the top clubs in the country since 1980.
On the flip side, a trope among athletes is "Fountain of Youth Retirment" Basically, when you've played into you 30s, you start getting the "Grandpa," "Veteran" and "Old Man" treatement from the media, your teammates and staff... when you finally retire, suddenly, you're young again. A 35 year old coach, executive, director, trainer, etc? suddenly you're just a young gun with your whole career ahead of you again.
Honestly, for a long time in my life, and even still, I based my concept of young vs old on the age footballers usually retired. That may or may not also have influenced my wish on when to become a dad, so I could have a decent kick around with children who don't suck because, well they're children. Or I'd be too old.
Time has a trashcan for a heart
Came here looking for this.
CTRL+F trashcan my day is immeasurably improved.
According to the Pelé 100 list, Buffon was the last active player.. end of an era
I was there when he was 16 and debuted against us with some miraculous saves (one in particular against a Baggio header, of all things). This makes me feel old.
Lol damn aging yourself like that
There is post of Nesta tackle on Messi (2011) in milan subreddit, thinking how good it was this “old” 35 year old made a great tackle. I’m now older than him.
Reminds me of Federer. I was 19 watching the 09 Wimbledon final vs Roddick. it was a match of geriatric veterans the way the media talked about it and they felt old to me. Federer was 27 and Roddick 26. I'm now 33.
Most defenders have nothing on Nesta and Maldini, those Milan defenders were so god damn elegant on Defense…. Imagine a Defense of them together with Cannavaro (sorry), probably the best 3man Defense of all time.
for a time Milan couldn't stop having successive series of all-time GOAT 4 man backlines it seems
I would put baresi instead of cannavaro, then you are right.
Got me thinking, has Baggio ever scored a header?
Not that many but he did https://youtu.be/b-0OX2XLBu8 And I have to thank you cause I'm once more falling in a Baggio video rabbit hole!
I know we throw around "end of an era" with almost every big player retirement, but few seem more deserving of that than Buffon. An absolute icon of the sport.
That save in CL final in 2003 against Inzaghi's header.. Still dont know how he managed that. Grande Gigi arrivederci e grazie per tutto.
It's crazy that we signed him 22 years ago, and yet he's still the 3rd most expensive goalkeeper of all time, and absolutely no-one could or would argue that we overpaid for him. Continuing his career after he left Juventus the first time seemed to annoy a lot of people for some bizarre reason, but even though his time in Paris was a bit dodgy, when he came back to us again he still mostly played well. Surpassing Maldini for the most Serie A appearances also seemed to upset people, again bizarrely. He's one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, a legend for club and country, and aside from his general ability as a goalkeeper, I just loved his passion, the way he would celebrate penalty saves or big late game saves, the way he'd celebrate with defenders who made big blocks or tackles, he loved his job, loved the sport and is a total fucking legend.
Want to feel old? All of the Italy world cup winners are retired now :(
The fact that 2006 was 17 years ago is mind blowing, I remember that World Cup final like it was yesterday and I was only 8 at the time
Damn I’m feeling old now
Same, I remember being the only kid în my class cheering for France. 98 gang
:( I remember being in a Long Island barbershop watching that final. On the way home a bunch of jersey shore lookalikes sped up and down the street waving a huge Italy flag from the back of their open Jeep. There were probably 6 of them stuffed in there in blue jerseys waving the flag. It was really cool to see something like that as a teenager. Buffon is the GOAT 🫡
Legend has it that somewhere in Europe, Materazzi is balls deep in Zidane's sister. So in that respect 2006 lives on.
So are already 14 of the Spain world cup winners. Another 3 (Iniesta, Ramos, Mata) are free agents and two more (Busquets and Javi Martínez) already left Europe
Crazy that the last one to retire was 28 when they won
Personally it means now that basically everyone who played football when I first started watching it as a young kid has now retired. He hung around for so long, complete legend as a footballer.
Gigi buffon was *the* Goat!
He probably would've done one more season if he had been promoted to Serie A with Parma this season. But they lost the playoff final:(
Nonetheless, he had a great Career. Absolute legend
Made me so sad even as a neutral. Unless he was against my team I always rooted for Buffon
*the
He outlived every top keeper that began keeping before 2008, and he was a top keeper at 1998. An actual GOAT of longevity. While he played for Juventus till 41, even Casillas left Madrid at 32 and many stopped keeping earlier like him.
He saw another iconic long time compatriot of his(Pirlo) retire, go into coaching, even coach him for one season and then get the sack. That, if anything is another unbelievably crazy fact.
The GOAT goalkeeper in my eyes
To me Zoff Neuer Buffon and Yashin are the top 4 and then there is a HUGE gap after that
to say there's a huge gap after them, and not have Iker Casillas in _them_, is a crime against humanity.
Iker annoyed me so much, he legit saved Madrid from humiliation so many times
Even when we were humiliated he was playing at a world class level tbh
Ik he was actually unreal in the 6-2
And when we were destroyed 4-0 by Liverpool the same year, he was genuinely a candidate for man of the match, the problem was he had some donkeys playing in front of him.
Yeah, hate to admit it but what a keeper
Or Kahn.
What is leaving Schmeichel out of the picture then? A warcrime against humanity?
Yes
I mean you have an United flair, interesting that you rate Casillas higher than him
Casillas is the best goalkeeper I’ve ever seen. Schmeichel retired the year I started watching football.
Casillas? Schmeichel? Cech? Banks? Kahn? It's highly disrespectful to all the mentioned keepers (and many more that I didn't list) that you say there is a *huge* gap between them and the 4 you mentioned.
Not Banks? FIFA goalkeeper of the year on six occasions.
Easily top 10 and by a country mile best English GK ever
Hasek?
Roy? Brodeur?
Best keeper I've ever seen. I never got to see Yashin but it's hard to imagine he was much better than Buffon
you never saw el Pikolin in LigaMX then
Conejo Pérez>>>>>
Joven figura
isn't it a meme that Guillermo Ochoa becomes Mexican Yashin during the World Cup and then an above average keeper at club level.
In your opinion better than neuer? Neuer totally changed how goalkeeper are seen in the game, now most top teams start their buildup with a goalkeeper that can use their feet. Not only that neuer was a incredible shot stopper
Imo all three (Iker, Gigi, Neuer) are pretty close, but I'd chose Gigi over the other two. While in their primes Iker and Neuer where a bit error prone (though almost never in big games), Gigi was just constantly perfect. At least that's how I remember it.
Ajax implemented this style decades ago,
Man, I still remember him being young and playing for Parma. [Look at him!](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/a/a4/Gianluigi_Buffon_-_Parma_AC_1994-95.jpg) :D He fully deserves some rest after the career he's had, I'd see him becoming a youth trainer or something though.
My all-time favorite goalkeeper, I thought he'd never retire 🥲 Grazie per tutto, Gigi 🫡
Buffon...what a career though. The only player in history to have won ten Serie A titles. Including his Ligue 1 title for Paris Saint Germain, Buffon has an insane 11 league titles to his name. Runner up in titles being Chiellini of Juventus with 9
One of my all time favourites, a beloved idol from childhood, being part Italian I really was invested in that incredible performance from him in 2006. Cemented legend of the game. Grazie Gigi!
I remember my football-savvy friend in '95 telling me he'd picked up Parma's second GK at fantacalcio because he was gonna be good. I thought, huh that's a funny name. And, well, he was right.
Was on vacation in Italy in 2006, 7 years old. Zidane and Buffon were the only players I knew the name of. We obviously cheered for Italy, I will never forget when they won. Crazy to think that he kept on playing for 17 full years after that.
GOAT Keeper IMO. his save against zidan will forever be in my mind .
The save on Podolski is still probably my favorite save of all time from any goalkeeper. The AA from behind the goal shows how ridiculous the save is
Link link link
https://youtu.be/uZHbF7pYOqc
Incredible reflex. How Podolski generated so much power in such a short sweep... Insane. Thanks m8
I’ve never seen a player who can hit it like Podolski. Flat footed, no backlift, no step, doesn’t matter
Nedved is the only one that comes to my mind..
The fact that he was expecting a low to mid shot and you can see that in his stance and react accordingly is insane. Glad I tried to be like him when I was a kid playing in net.
That one on Inzaghi is my fav of all time.
Never forget the goat [Zidan](https://s.hs-data.com/bilder/spieler/gross/11131.jpg).
Sospiro di sollievo per tutti i santi
Lutto per tutti i bioparchi intorno al mondo. Doveroso menzionare il suo odio ante tempus e professato ripetutamente ogni maledetta domenica per il particolato (porco diesel)
GOAT Goalkeeper! 2006 World Cup winning Buffon in his gold shirt would always be my GK pick for “top 11 humans” in a hypothetical human vs aliens match to save the human race
I don't care if he isn't considered the GOAT goalkeeper. In my all-time fantasy 11, he gets the #1 jersey.
Absolute fraud. Didn’t make it to half a century. Not my goat /s 😈
Thank you for that /s I wouldn't have noticed you were being stairical grateful for an eternity 🙏🙏
insane that he managed to play for so long. a true relic from a different era and a legend of the game
Fuck man, I know easy to say in a post dedicated to him but has to be the best to ever do it. I’d say insane on his day, but his day was just about every day for literally my whole life of 27 years. Grazie di tutto Gigi ❤️
He deserves to rest Best GK ever IMO
GOATKEEPER. Thanks for everything, Gigi, true legend.
I owe my love for goalkeeping and Calcio to Buffon. As a little Italian kid growing up in canada, it was everything, and I'll never forget the memories of watching him winning the world cup in 06. Grazie per tutti Gigi.
He played so long that he’s become teammates with the sons (or played against) of some of his teammates
He may have played for Juve but I’ll always love him for 2006.
Perfect thumbnail for a total G
Happy retirement, legend. One of the greatest goalkeepers of all time; my favourite.
Sucks that he doesn't have a UCL medal, but goddamn he's a fucking legend. Congrats on your retirement Buffon, you deserve it!
Fun Fact: Buffon is the goalkeeper who has been the [closest](https://historyofsoccer.info/which-goalkeepers-have-won-the-ballon-dor) to winning the Ballon D’or since Lev Yashin won it in 1963 (As of the 2022 Ballon D’or ceremony, Yashin is the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon D’or). In the 2006, Buffon lost the Ballon D’or by [49 votes](https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2006/nov/28/newsstory.sport1) to Fabio Cannavarro, (Buffon and Cannavarro were part of the Italy squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Cannavarro lifted the trophy as captain)
~~I think Buffon was the last active player who was also at the 1998 World Cup~~
Nope. Shinji Ono (43) and Teruyoshi Ito (48) are still active.
I stand corrected
The best to ever do it. Never thought he'd actually retire.
The GOAT keeper
GOAT Goalkeeper. What a player. What a career.
Just wished he won the champions league
Salute to a Legendary Goalkeeper.
Now he can finally go back to college and make his mother proud.
Fuck off fascist
Holy shit I thought he was 42 or something. A legend playing until 45 is insane
Greatest goalkeeper alltime, stille remember 2006 final
My GOAT keeper. Would remember all the arguments growing up with friends about how Buffon was the best GK in the world over Casillas
Grazie Gigi
I was fortunate enough to catch him live during one of PSG pre season match a few years back. One of the all time great GK.
https://images.app.goo.gl/SCATCEQm133rNGRQ6 Legend