Gigi has made saves his life’s work, his son dreamed of being a striker: now he scores goals galore with the Czech Republic. And he could still choose Italy

Louis Thomas Buffon, son of Gigi and Alena Seredova, must have loved the cartoons of the little dragon Grisù when he was a child. His dragon father explained: “We spit fire, we don’t put it out.” But Grisù stubbornly held on to his dream: “I want to be a firefighter!” In the same way, his father Gigi explained to his son: ” In our family, we play sports with our hands. Grandparents Adriano and Maria Stella threw the shot put and discus, aunts Veronica and Guendalina play volleyball, I play goalkeeper…” But despite having a goalkeeper’s surname (Buffon) and first name (Thomas, like N’Kono, his father’s idol), Louis Thomas, stubborn like Grisù, held on to his dream: “I want to be a center forward!” He kicked balls at Gigi, who dived on 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 and the other in Serie A.

At 17, he plays for the Czech Republic’s Under-19 team, his mother’s country. Louis Thomas has distanced himself from his father in every way, so as not to suffer the burden of comparison: different role, different national team. A bit like Edinho, Pelé’s son, who became a goalkeeper. In recent days, Louis Thomas has distanced himself from Gigi like never before. While his father, head of the Italian delegation, struggled against Moldova and Norway, his striker son scored three goals against Azerbaijan and three against Northern Ireland. Physical, technical, 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 father, Gigi, would feel on the other bench.