Gigi Buffon, the man who has dodged everything and everyone, from Zidane's blows in the World Cup final to the depression he suffered in the early 2000s, surrenders to time and advances his retirement.

The official announcement is missing, but the decision has already been made: at the age of 45 he will stop being one of the best goalkeepers in history, perhaps for many the greatest of all time. Silvano Martina, his achiever and, above all, his friend, often said of him that he has an innate gift for positioning.

Buffon still had a year left on his contract with Parma. As in Hollywood movies, everything ends where it began, at Parma, 28 years ago, with that exciting debut in the form of a saga: Parma-Milan 0-0, on November 19, 1995.

In between, ten Scudetti (plus one Serie B championship), 7 Supercoppe di Lega and 5 Coppa Italia with Juve -to which must be added another Coppa Italia won with Parma in 1998-99-. He had courage and generosity both on the pitch, with the relegation to Serie B, for example, and off it, where he made his most personal confessions in Roberto Perrone's excellent book: “I fell into depression, a psychologist treated me”, story.

Controversy also surrounded his life on several occasions, both on the pitch and off it.. For the memory there will be phrases that he said before the microphone (such as that “two wounded are better than one dead”), but he always recognized his mistakes. “All the misadventures I have had, some consciously sought, I have always paid for,” he once said..

His mother is from Tuscany, and his father is from Friuli, a unique mix. From her he inherited the ability to understand and know how to downplay situations; and from him, tenacity and courage.