Gianluigi Buffon announced his retirement from football on Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on a glorious career as one of the world's greatest ever goalkeepers. "That's all folks!
You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We did it together," he posted in English on social media. Buffon, 45, hangs up his gloves after two final years at Parma, the club where it all began nearly three decades ago when Italian football was Europe's gold standard.
He had a contract which ran until next summer with Parma but he will no longer be a part of the Serie B club's bid to return to the top flight after two years away.
Buffon is a symbol of a halcyon age when the best footballers went to play in Serie A and Italy developed dozens of world class players.