Gigi made goalkeeping his life’s work; his son dreamed of becoming a striker: now he’s scoring goals left and right for the Czech Republic. And he might still choose Italy

Louis Thomas Buffon, son of Gigi and Alena Seredova, must have loved the cartoons of the little dragon Grisù as a child. His “dragon” dad explained: “We breathe fire, we don’t put it out.” But Grisù, stubborn as ever, held fast to his dream: “I want to be a firefighter!” In the same way, Dad Gigi explained to his son: “ Around here, we play sports with our hands. Grandparents Adriano and Maria Stella threw the shot put and discus, aunts Veronica and Guendalina play volleyball, I’m a goalkeeper…” But despite having a goalkeeper’s surname (Buffon) and even a middle name (Thomas, like N’Kono, his dad’s idol), Louis Thomas, as stubborn as Grisù, held fast to his dream: “I want to be a center forward!” He would kick the ball at Gigi as he dived into the sand at Marina di Massa, and in the end, he became one: Pippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino, his father’s World Cup teammates, gave him his debut at Pisa—one in Serie B, the other in Serie A.

At 17, he plays for the Under-19 team of the Czech Republic, his mother’s homeland. Louis Thomas has distanced himself from his father in every way, to avoid the burden of comparison: a different position, a different national team. A bit like Edinho, Pelé’s son, who became a goalkeeper. In recent days, Louis Thomas has distanced himself from Gigi more than ever. While his father, head of the Italian delegation, struggled against Moldova and Norway, his striker son scored 3 against Azerbaijan and 3 against Northern Ireland. Physicality, technique, personality. He can still choose our senior national team. But imagine a possible Italy-Czech Republic playoff final. What if the Czech coach calls up Louis Thomas? Try to guess how his dragon of a dad, Gigi, would feel on the other bench.