The Italian squad are heading home from France after being knocked out of Euro 2016 by Germany in the quarter finals.
Germany progressed to secure a semi-final showdown against the winners of France and Iceland after defeating the Azzuri in a penalty shoot-out.
Unfortunately, this means that we’ve seen the last of Gianluigi Buffon’s participation in the competition as his goalkeeping heroics were not enough to inspire a win against the Germans.
We’ve always been a big fan of the 38-year-old living legend, but he elevated himself to a level above this in the eyes of Irish supporters when he embraced Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane following the Republic of Ireland’s memorable Group E victory over Italy.
This is one of the 17,864 reasons why we love 'Gigi' so much #ITA https://t.co/oo1NLNWK7I
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 25, 2016
As much as we’re going to miss Gigi in France, it’s nothing compared to what the Italian supporters are going through at the moment.
A video has emerged of Buffon saying his goodbyes to the loyal Italian support in France before leaving for home and as you can see (or hear, rather), the man’s essentially a God to them. The crowd can be heard screaming for their hero as he came over and hugged several fans who had shown up to see him off.
Simply the best @gianluigibuffon pic.twitter.com/dkgr5ZHHEi
— Paolo Menicucci (@UEFAcomPaoloM) July 3, 2016
