Buffon sides with Spalletti after Acerbi’s Italy national team rejection | OneFootball

Gianluigi Buffon has sided with Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti following Francesco Acerbi’s decision to reject a call-up to the national team squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in June.

The 37-year-old Inter defender had been called up to the national team squad for the first time in well over a year for the June World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Moldova, but Spalletti revealed on Sunday that the player decided against joining up with the team.

Acerbi, meanwhile, has shared his version of events, insisting that his decision has nothing to do with Inter’s recent Champions League final hammering, instead claiming that he will not stay somewhere he is ‘not really wanted’.

FLORENCE, ITALY – OCTOBER 15: Serie A defender Francesco Acerbi of Italy looks on during a training session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on October 15, 2023 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

Buffon comments on Acerbi-Spalletti situation

Buffon, who is part of the Italy staff, effectively serving as the national team’s sporting director, has recently weighed in on the ongoing debacle between Spalletti and Acerbi.

The legendary former Azzurri goalkeeper suggests that Acerbi hasn’t just rejected Spalletti, but that he has rejected ‘something even bigger, which is Italy’.

Buffon added that it is an ‘honour’ to represent Italy, and that the opportunity to do so only lasts for ‘a certain period of our lives’.

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 20: Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Italy, sings the national anthem prior to the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal leg one match between Italy and Germany at Stadio San Siro on March 20, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“A footballer does not just say no to Spalletti, he says no to something even bigger, which is Italy,” Buffon said in a recent appearance on La Domenica Sportiva (via Calciomercato.com).

“At the end of the day, figures like me and Spalletti, like every coach and manager before, are transient.

“We have the honour of being able to represent Italy for a certain period of our lives,” he added.