Football: For Buffon, “Neymar should have won five Ballons d’Or”

For a whole generation of goalkeepers born between the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, Gianluigi Buffon was the example to follow. The last Italian rampart, world champion with Squadra Azzura in 2006, marked the history of Football by playing at the highest level for three decades (1995-2023).

On Tuesday, at the age of 46, he published his autobiography titled “Fall, Get Up, Fall, Get Back Up” in his country. On the sidelines of this outing, he gave an interview to Corriere della Serra. Obviously, with such a long career, he was asked who was the strongest opponent he had faced.

“I played with three generations of players. How to choose between Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or even Iniesta?”, he replied. He still decided at the journalist's insistence.

According to him, the best was Neymar, his short-lived teammate at Paris Saint-Germain during the 2018-2019 season. “For the player and the man that he is, he should have won five Ballon d’Ors,” justified Gigi Buffon.

The Transalpine also spoke of several moments in his career, notably his depression which began at the end of 2003, a few months after Juventus' defeat in the Champions League final against AC Milan.

“I started sleeping badly. I went to bed and felt anxious, he said. I then had an anxiety attack on the pitch, it was against Reggina at home. I couldn't breathe anymore. Later, the diagnosis of depression was made by a psychologist.

Gianluigi Buffon, however, says he refused medication. “I needed it, but I was afraid of becoming addicted. To get through it, a psychologist advised me to take an interest in things other than football.”

This is how he discovered Art. “One day I went to the Gallery of Modern Art in Turin. There was an exhibition by Marc Chagall. I took the audio guide and stayed for an hour in front of “La Promenade”. I came back the next day.”

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