Player Talks : Gigi Buffon

3 January 2008

Buffon: “Let's improve on our third place”

“Improve”: that's the New Year's rallying cry, according to Gigi Buffon. The keeper, who has returned to Vinovo alongside his team mates to restart training, held the first press conference of 2008 at the Media Center Press Room, and immediately made his aims for the League clear: “Juve must try and continue like this. We can improve and we must really want to, even if I must admit we've already done a lot; that doesn't mean we feel fulfilled, however, quite the opposite, as the results we've achieved will have to motivate us, making us even more aware of our true strength. If we did improve, as we're neither first nor second, but third, it would mean bettering our position by at least one place, but objectively if we were able to end in third place it would still be a great achievement. Let's not forget that we have some big teams behind us, not least of all AC Milan, and until I see the Rossoneri twenty-five points below us I won't feel relaxed”. Gigi is optimistic about the second part of the season, but refuses to talk about the League title: “I'll say the word Scudetto if you want, that's not the problem. The problem is that those in front aren't missing any beats. To hope for the title sometimes you have to hope that things don't go as well for the ones in front, whereas at the moment Inter Milan are a perfect football machine, they have all the skills but also immense physical power and when you're below par, or when you're not playing well, if you have players who are that strong physically, it helps you win many games, from dead ball situations too. At the moment the difference between Inter Milan and all the other teams is the squad, they have 20-25 players who are equally as good and that doesn't happen in the other Italian teams. Moreover, when things go as well as is happening for them, whoever plays in place of the big stars doesn't make their absence felt, but integrates at best in the team. In any case, when the Manager or David say that we must keep alert, it's true, in the sense that we mustn't make life easy for them”. Then again, the results achieved by Juventus justify a healthy optimism, since few people considered them possible at the start of the season: “Actually even we are surprised we're in this position. The younger players and the new signings have immediately coalesced with those who have played at Juve for several years. And I also think the Club signed a high-quality coaching staff: this has made it all easier, I reckon. It wasn't easy to work with a renewed squad and yet they've been exceptional”. Juventus' third place is also due in great part to Gigi and his saves and it's no coincidence that on some Juventus fans' forums, the keeper has been considered the best player of the year. Another appraisal has come from Italy's Manager, Donadoni, who said that Buffon and Pirlo are the best players in the National team: “It's very gratifying to be appreciated by the fans. And Italy's Manager isn't one to say things like this usually, so his appraisal makes me a little uncomfortable: I've just come back from the holidays and I'm finding it hard to 'parry’ these compliments! If he said it, it’s because he knows it won't create tension in the team and it makes me proud, as Pirlo will be too, and the other players will be happy too, because no-one is jealous of anyone else in the team”. Speaking of the National team, Gigi looked ahead to the European Championships and the tough group in which the Azzurri will play: “We're the World Cup holders, but two years have gone by since our win and even if we still feel like Champions and we have this responsibility on our shoulders, we need to confirm ourselves. One of the reasons football is exciting is because it never lets you feel fulfilled. We're in a tough group, but the thing that makes me feel optimistic is that the other teams fear us as well”.
Finally, the last thought was for his child, his partner Alena and his feelings in the last week: “They have been days filled with strong emotions. Louis Thomas' birth is a great responsibility, both for me and for Alena, and we have to be serene and peaceful, so that we can educate the boy in the best possible way. The fact that Alena let me choose the name made me very happy and I wanted to give this small gift to her too, as Thomas is also a Czech name and Louis, after all, is a short name”. And besides, Thomas was also the name of N’Kono, Cameroon's keeper from a few years ago, and Gigi's first football idol: “Yes, there were many reasons I liked this name. The 1990 World Cup was the first one I lived intensely as a young fan and I remember Cameroon winning the first match of the tournament against Argentina, and N’Kono making some superb saves. And also the way he carried himself, I really liked him”.