Italian football legend Gianluigi Buffon has issued a warning about the loss of Italy football identity. The former goalkeeper, a symbol of Italian success for a generation, argues that two decades of chasing a foreign style have cost Italy its unique strengths and eroded the very talent that made it great.
“For twenty years we’ve been ashamed of who we are,” Buffon stated. He described a prolonged period where Italian football felt pressured to imitate the possession-based game of nations like Spain. In doing so, he believes, the country abandoned its own celebrated history.
This shift, according to Buffon, has had a direct impact on player development. He pointed to iconic Italian defenders of the past as examples of a dying breed. “Players like Ciro Ferrara, Fabio Cannavaro… today we’d be embarrassed to put them on the pitch!” he exclaimed. Extending the argument to a modern champion, Buffon suggested that even Giorgio Chiellini’s place would be in doubt today because his primary strength was not playing “line-breaking passes.”
Buffon acknowledged the beauty of styles like Barcelona’s, which fans pay to see. However, he questioned the logic of Italy trying to copy it completely. The idea that an Italian team could sustain a high defensive line and dominate midfield for ninety minutes, he implied, goes against its pragmatic nature.
He called for a return to the principles that defined Italy’s most iconic victories. “Italy’s historic matches were built on defending to the death, on team containment, on the cohesion of the result,” Buffon recalled. These were not negative traits, but calculated strengths that led to glory.
The 2006 World Cup winner senses a modern discomfort with this approach, a fear that it won’t be accepted by football’s elite. “Now it seems like we’re uncomfortable with that otherwise, we won’t be accepted into football’s high society,” he observed.
Buffon’s message ended with a clear and proud declaration. The ultimate goal, he affirmed, is to win. “I want to go out there to try and win, and there’s no shame in doing it with your own strengths.”