Italy plan Buffon friendly

By Football Italia staff

It’s reported Italy will play a friendly in either Turin or Parma in June, as a send-off for Gianluigi Buffon.

The goalkeeper plans to retire at the end of this season, with the last of his 175 Azzurri caps coming in the 0-0 draw with Sweden which saw the national team fail to qualify for the World Cup.

That means Buffon won’t get to play a final World Cup, but Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the FIGC is planning a friendly which would serve as a more fitting goodbye.

Italy are already playing a friendly with England at Wembley Stadium in March, before a match with France in Nice on June 1.

It’s now thought they will organise a second friendly that month, either at Juventus Stadium or the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

Those stadiums represent home for Buffon, as he started his career with Parma before making the move to Juventus in 2001.

It would be the legendary goalkeeper's last match, with the likely opponents said to be Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland or the Republic of Ireland.

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