The man who redifined goalkeeper's role: Gianluigi Buffon

 Gianluigi Buffon, often hailed as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of football decided to put away his jersey as he reached the end of the twilight of his career.

"That's all folks! You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We did it together," Buffon wrote in his tweet.

In a single sentence, Buffon bid adieu to the field that has been his home for more than 28 years. Throughout these years, the Italian has been the guardian who had defended his goalpost and brought an end to his career with his boyhood club Parma.

His illustrious career took him to various adventures and quests away from his home town Carrara.

His journey saw him lift the prestigious World Cup with Italy in 2006. He saw and conquered every single trophy that crossed his path except for one - the UEFA Champions League Trophy.

That's all folks!

You gave me everything.

I gave you everything.

We did it together. pic.twitter.com/bGvIDsoFsG

— Gianluigi Buffon (@gianluigibuffon) August 2, 2023

If one was to define Buffon's club career in the best possible way it would be defined by his two decades at Juventus. He won 10 Serie A titles in 19 seasons, along with five Coppa Italia and six Italian Supercoppa titles. He also reached three Champions League finals with Juve but fell short on every occasion.

Gigi's career started at Parma, where he made his professional debut at the age of 17 in 1995. In 2001, he made a switch for the record-breaking transfer to Juventus for 52 million euros, this made him the most expensive goalkeeper at the time.

Buffon's career reaches a new height when his international stats come to foray. Buffon proudly represented Italy with record-breaking appearances of 176. He embarked on a journey with the Azzurri in 1997, and he ended up playing in nine major tournaments from 1998 to 2016.

Buffon's exceptional goalkeeping skills were crucial in Italy's triumph at the 2006 World Cup, where he managed to keep five clean sheets in seven games. His retirement marks the end of all the active players that were left from Italy's World Cup winning squad. (ANI)