Gianluigi Buffon: Italy icon retires aged 45 after glorious career spanning 28 years | OneFootball

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ianluigi Buffon has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 45.

The Italian icon has finally called it quits ahead of the 2023/24 season, despite having one-year remaining on his contract at Serie B side Parma.

Buffon’s emotional announcement brings to an end one of the greatest and most enduring goalkeeping careers football has ever witnessed, one that lasted a staggering 28 years and included a memorable World Cup triumph in 2006 plus 10 Serie A titles with Juventus and more success in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Buffon made 975 club appearances in total after his debut for Parma in 1995 and earned a record 176 caps for Italy between 1997-2018.

He posted on social media on Wednesday: “That’s all folks! You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We did it together.”

Widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers to play the game, Buffon began in the mid-1990s with Parma, before really making his name during a 17-year stint at Juventus.

He returned for a second spell at the Old Lady after a short time with PSG and ended his career back at Parma, making 19 appearances for the Serie B side last term.

He won a plethora of medals and broke several records, including most Serie A appearances (657), most club appearances by an Italian player and most Italy caps.

80 of those were as captain, which is also a record, and he was a member of the side which won the 2006 World Cup following a tense penalty-shootout win over France in Berlin, a game most remembered for Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi.