Legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon he surprised the public with an unusual recognition – his first football idol was not one of the usual superstars, but Blaž “Baka” Slišković.
In the television show “Viva il Futbol”, Buffon recalled the early nineties, the period when he was a passionate fan of Pescara as a boy.
“Pescara was one of my first football loves. … I loved that team that was born in difficulties,” said Buffon, describing the team that, despite being relegated to Serie C, stayed in the league thanks to a penalty over Palermo.
She caused a special rapture the generation of coach Giovanni Galeone which won a return to Serie A with a playful, attacking style. Buffon listed the heroes of that time – Rebonat, Rocco, Gaudenzi, Gasperini – but one stood above all:
“I went to watch their training sessions in Trentino and I saw my first idol, Blaž Slišković. He was a football genius. If I had chosen Slišković or Maradona or Zico, I would have chosen Slišković.”
Buffon’s tribute to the 65-year-old Mostar is a new recognition for the former Yugoslav national team player and coach of Zrinjski. Earlier, he was included in his ideal Marseille squad of all time Zinedine Zidaneand in Pescara in 1987, Slišković was on the verge of a transfer to Juventus – everything, however, was stopped by a serious injury.
Today, the only question left for the former playmaker is whether and how he will respond to the compliment of the world goalkeeping legend, whose talent he – “Baka” – may have encouraged when little Gianluigi was standing behind the fence of the stadium in Trentino.
