On the occasion of the first episode of the “PHENOMENA” column, available on the Prime Video Sport YouTube channel, Luca Toni visited Gianluigi Buffon to retrace the key episodes of the career of the former Parma number 1 (read HERE the first part). In addition to the many happy moments, Buffon also remembered the saddest ones, such as the one that then led Buffon to say goodbye to Parma and to the football he played, at the end of last season, with the Crociati’s failure to be promoted to Serie A: ” It was a sad page for me because of how I conceive of football and how I make my choices. It would have been the closing of a circle, but perfect things never happen because during the play-off against Cagliari, towards the end of the first half time, I hurt my calf again; I no longer wanted to do the three-month journey and do physiotherapy and I couldn’t become a burden for the team when you realize that your condition doesn’t allow you to be important to the team, it’s right to step aside.”
Gigi then wanted to recall the difficulties encountered in Parma in his first season back in the yellow-blue jersey, immediately following the club’s relegation: “I think I had an excellent season that year at 44 years old. We started with the aim of return to Serie A but we finished the season thirteenth and I think that if we saved ourselves some credit, it’s also mine. The difficulties I encountered in the dressing room in Parma, in the first season I couldn’t find them anywhere, we didn’t share anything There were kids from all over the world, catapulted into Parma, so there was no dialogue, there was no sharing, it was different because in my opinion the coach and his team were very good staff to involve everyone a bit”.
There was then space to comment on the rumors that saw a possible return to Parma as a manager: “Yes, there are some rumours. I kept the house in Parma because for me returning to Parma was a dream; I found the people I wanted, the environment I wanted, what I knew would make me feel good. I always say that Parma was my “mother” and Juventus my “father”. Juve, I owe a lot to both environments because they made me grow a lot. Now I’m also studying to become a manager. If I were to go somewhere to be a manager it’s because I hope to be able to make the difference I made as a footballer Because of the way I am, I couldn’t accept figurative, image roles.”
