The choices we make in life are often surprising, as is the case with Louis Thomas Buffon. It is a name that is often familiar to fans when they see his surname, which is identical to that of the Juventus legend: Gianluigi Buffon.
Gianluigi Buffon, 47, a product of the Parma academy who became a legend at the club and at Juventus, for whom he played for two spells (2001-2018 and 2019-2021). As a goalkeeper, Buffon also played for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the mid-2018-2019 period.
Buffon was born in Italy and won the 2006 World Cup with the Italian national team. He married Czech model Alena Seredova in June 2011 and they have two children: Louis Thomas and David Lee.
The eldest son, Louis Thomas Buffon, is following in his father’s footsteps as a professional footballer and is now 17 years old. A striker rather than a goalkeeper, Thomas currently plays for Serie B side Pisa SC.
Selecting the Czech Republic National Team
Despite his career as a footballer, Thomas did not follow in his father’s footsteps and play for the Italian national team. Thomas chose to help the national team of his mother’s country, the Czech Republic, and received a call-up to the U-18 side, which could face Portugal, England and France.
Thomas admitted that he had received permission from his father and mother for his decision to represent the Czech Republic rather than Italy.
“I’m very happy to come to the meeting and curious about the different football culture,” Thomas said, as quoted by Football-Italia.
“I spoke with my family and together we decided that it would be better for my football career and my development as a player to play for the Czech Republic.”
“My mother was very happy, of course, but my father was also happy because it was my first call-up to the national team.”
There is still potential for Thomas to break into the Italian first team, given that he only played for the Czech Republic at a young age. However, Thomas has made up his mind, even though he is not yet fluent in Czech.
“I didn’t speak Czech very well, but as soon as I knew I could come here, I started learning it. I spend about 10 minutes a day on Duolingo,” Thomas added.
“I was born and raised in Italy, but I think that in order to be 100 per cent professional and do my job as well as possible, every game has to be important to me, whether it’s against Italy or another national team,” he explained.
