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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Sparky-moon on 2026-04-22 08:19:24+00:00.
Original Title: Gianluigi Buffon: “It has been a painful page for Italian football and myself. If they had told me this would happen [12] years ago I would have said that it’s much easier to see 1,000 aliens around me rather than Italy not qualifying for three tournaments consecutively. But that’s the reality.“
“It has been a painful page for Italian football and myself. If they had told me this would happen [12] years ago I would have said that it’s much easier to see 1,000 aliens around me rather than Italy not qualifying for three tournaments consecutively. But that’s the reality.
“In order to overcome this we need to understand why there are difficulties. We need to change. If we are clear about this analysis, we have the potential to create a much better future. But if you deny there is a problem, then that problem will always be there.”
What are the reasons for the decline of Italian football? “I would say there are three clear ones,” Buffon says “The first is globalisation, which has made it possible for all teams to be very competitive, and the average level of play has increased a lot. Secondly, up to 15 years ago when we used to win, we were stronger tactically than our opponents. And thirdly, we have some fantastic players but what’s missing is the truly creative talent like [Roberto] Baggio, [Alessandro] Del Piero or [Francesco] Totti that used to help us prevail.”