Gigi Buffon Pens Moving Poem To His One True Love, The Goal

There’s something about time and the slow accretion of age that turns men wistful. Even the most stoic man will shed his hardened emotional exterior, and just might see himself so moved by, say, reaching an especially poignant milestone or achievement in life that he feels the urge to memorialize his swirl of emotions in a tender work of art.

No one would doubt the manliness of Juventus and Italian national team legend Gigi Buffon. (Though he’s long been willing to reveal his intellectual/artistic side to anyone who bothered to ask.) And yet after breaking the Serie A record for most consecutive minutes without giving up a goal by a goalkeeper, rather than revelling in the achievement by partying—or, more likely, in addition to that—the 38-year-old became pensive. He decided to compose an ode to the special relationship he shares with the very object he has dedicated his life to literally defending: the goal itself. Here’s a translation:

I like to think that some time down the road, when Buffon and his compatriot and fellow embodiment of both the virile and vulnerable aspects of masculinity, Andrea Pirlo, have finally hung up their boots for good, they’ll get together at some Tuscan vineyard, beards perfectly manicured and hands gently swilling glasses of the finest Italian wines beneath their noses, explore together the depth of their abiding love for the game of soccer. Hopefully, those conversations will inspire them to return to their pens in book of poetry entitled something like La Dolce Vita Del Bel Gioco.

[ Fox Sports]

Photo via Getty