Gigi Buffon insists he is still available for the Azzurri if asked and compares the end of a football career as “the first death.”
San Gigi is entering the final stretch of his last season at Juventus, and reflected on his career, the possibility of another call up to the national side and his friend and Milan coach, Rino Gattuso.
“Gattusso ? He’s a boy who has studied, who has tactical ideas and rightly gets angry when he is diminished by saying just that it’s just grit and temperament” Buffon told Tiki Taka.
“Donnarumma my heir? I have not crowned him, he has great skills and he deserved the accolades alone with the splendid performances he is giving.
“The strongest opponent I faced in my career? Ronaldo the Phenomenon was something incredible, those were those special years and at the time it seemed like he was an extraterrestrial playing with humans.
“What will I do next year? Nothing in particular, now I just have to concentrate on this season finale, I’m sure and I’m very calm about what my choice will be. I’ll communicate with the club at the right time.
“Each of us must follow the path he feels inside and the passion that grows in his soul. I hope to have another flame of passion that will show me a role to follow in the future. As strong as us footballers, to stop playing is like the ‘first death’ that one undergoes.
“The words of Di Biagio regarding a return to the National team? There is nothing to add except that I have a sense of responsibility and attachment that I felt I was still giving to the National team at this time of transition. I thought I would go on holiday a few days but I think that when the national team needs you, you have to respond and not defect….It is a form of loyalty and a sense of responsibility towards Italy.
“Napoli’s victory in Cagliari? I did not see it, but it seems to me that Napoli have not had any particular problems.
“If i I weren’t the Juventus goalkeepeer, would I like the Scudetto to go to Naples? I like the stories of sport, of passion and in Naples, theres all of this. I’m sorry for Napoli’s exit from the Europa League because a team like the the could have won the competition.
“The Champions League finals lost – I played three finals and I lost all of them – I do not know if this can affect a person. With Milan we missed three penalties out of five, but in the last two finals we played against top teams like Barcelona….In Cardiff we were too presumptuous, we thought we could play on a par and if we had this thought against Real it means that we did not understand how to face a team like Real Madrid.
“A return of Balotelli to Italy? I would be happy if Mario returned because he would have the chance to prove that he is 100% matured, he could show continually that he became a great player … I think Balotelli for what he’s been doing in the last two years, deserves to be taken into consideration also for the National team. He’s a great talent who has never had great continuity but the hope is that he has matured.”
