Gianluigi Buffon, the legendary former Italy goalkeeper, has revealed in his new autobiography how a panic attack before a Juventus match against Reggina in February 2004 nearly derailed his career. In an exclusive extract, Buffon describes the moment of crisis that left him struggling to breathe and feeling an overwhelming sense of fear.
The Crisis Before Kickoff
Buffon recalls that the match was a cold, wet winter evening in Turin, with the stadium half-empty. During the warm-up, he felt something was wrong. 'I realised that I was struggling to breathe,' he writes. 'I stood there, staring at the pitch, and I felt slightly dizzy. What scared me, however, was the tightness I felt in my diaphragm, between chest and stomach, as if I had been hit.'
The goalkeeper, known for his mental strength, was overcome by a sense of fear he did not understand. 'When you have a panic attack, you don't know you're having a panic attack. When you have a panic attack you think you're going to die,' Buffon explains.
The Intervention of the Goalkeeping Coach
Ivano Bordon, the Juventus goalkeeping coach, noticed Buffon's distress. Buffon told him to get reserve goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti ready. Bordon calmly responded: 'Don't worry, Gigi, you don't have to play.' He gave Buffon time to decide, saying, 'You aren't obliged to.' That phrase, Buffon says, freed him from the oppression of duty and allowed him to breathe more easily.
Buffon took a walk around the pitch to collect his thoughts. He told himself: 'You don't have to play, you can go home whenever you want.' But he also knew that if he left, he might never return. He decided to play for 90 minutes, telling himself, 'When the game is over you can stop playing football.'
Playing Through the Panic
After a brief warm-up, Buffon returned to the pitch. Adrenaline helped him manage the panic. He made a crucial save from a difficult free-kick and, at the end of the first half, a brilliant one-on-one save from Ciccio Cozza. Juventus won 1-0. 'The save from Cozza gave me an important push in order to finish the game,' Buffon recalls.
The next day, Buffon realised he would have to learn to live with this discomfort. He had been sleeping badly for months, waking up with negative thoughts. He feared disappointing his parents and fans, and throwing away his career. He talked to close friends and the Juventus doctor, Riccardo Agricola. When Buffon described feeling 'stretched out' and 'in the shit', Agricola suggested: 'Gigi, it could be depression.'
Buffon's autobiography, Saved, is now available. The extract sheds light on the mental health struggles that even the greatest athletes can face.
