dpa
Rome
Italian goalkeeper icon Gianluigi Buffon has said he suffered from depression some 20 years ago while playing for Juventus, and that painting helped him overcome the illness.
Buffon, 46, told Tuesday’s Corriere della Sera paper that he refused to take drugs fearing he would become dependent on them but that a psychotherapist told him to look beyond football.
"I only went to the psychotherapist three or four times, but she gave me valuable advice: cultivate other interests, don’t focus entirely on football,” he said.
"It was then that I discovered painting. I went to a gallery of modern and contemporary art in Turin, where there was a [Marc] Chagall exhibition.
"I was stuck in front of his ‘The Walk’ for an hour. It’s a simple painting that shows Chagall and his wife Bella holding hands, only she is flying. I returned to the exhibition the next day.”
Buffon said he started seeing the therapist after reaching a low point at the end of 2003.
"The league season had started well but we then started to lose momentum. We had come back from two championships in a row: after the up, the down,” he recalled.
"A void opened up in front of me. I started to sleep badly. I would lie down and get anxious, thinking I wouldn’t sleep.”
Buffon said he had a panic attack before one league game and then coach Ivano Bordon offered him the chance to sit out the match.
But Buffon refused, saying: "I said to myself: Gigi, if you don’t play this time, it will set a precedent and you won’t be able to play again.
"My life really has been like this: fall down, get up. I’ve made mistakes, like everyone else, and I’ve never hidden them,” he added.
Buffon won a national record 176 Italy caps highlighted by the 2006 World Cup title.
At club level he enjoyed the most success at Juve, where he played 2001-2018 and 2019-2021, with silverware including 10 Serie A titles and five Coppa Italia. He is also Serie A appearance record holder with 657 matches.
He is now head of the delegation of Italy’s national team.