Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said on
Tuesday he will retire at the end of the season, unless Juventus win the
Champions League.
The
39-year-old plans to bring the curtain down on his career after the 2018 World
Cup, but if Juventus triumph in Europe he could continue on to try to add the
Club World Cup to his collection.
"There's
no margin (to change mind) because I'm quite convinced of the choices I've
made," Buffon, who was named as the goalkeeper of the year at Fifa's The
Best awards on Monday, told Sky Sport.
"This
is my last season and I'm pretty sure of the choices I make. One or two more
years wouldn't add or take away from what I've already achieved."
"The
only way would be to win the Champions League," he continued, suggesting
that he would share the role with his understudy Wojciech Szczesny at the Club
World Cup.
"At
that point, to try to win the Club World Cup, maybe Szczesny could play one
game and me another," suggested Buffon, who has played 633 times for
Juventus and 173 matches for Italy.
"But
I think with a goalkeeper like him behind it is normal that next year I'll stand
aside."
Juventus,
European champions in 1985 and 1996, have finished runners-up in the Champions
League twice in the past three years.