Not all trophies are won with gloves. Some are earned with wounds. Others, with words. Gianluigi Buffon, a living monument to Italian football, has lifted yet another trophy. But this time it wasn't under a stadium.
He was in front of an audience of readers, booksellers, and judges of the Bancarella Sport 2025 Award crowned his winner: “ Cadere, alzarsi, caduta, alzarsi”, the sincere and profound memoir of the former Azzurri goalkeeper, which won 193 votes .
A book about football, certainly, but also an intimate portrait of a man who navigated glory, doubt, downfall, and pride. This is how Buffon chose to tell his story. And he did so in an unusual context for him: the Bancarella club.
Alongside him, other great stories: “Vertical. The novel of Gigi Riva” by Paolo Piras (160 votes), “Duck, You Sucker!” by Claudio Colombo (134), “My Life Against the Wind” by Reinhold Messner (128), “Senna. The Truth” (124) and “Dirty Game” by Nicola Calathopoulos (119). A powerful set of six, where each author has given sport its highest meaning: that of struggle, of limits, of dignity.
Buffon, now head of the national team delegation, received the sculpture of Saint John of God—a symbol of the "wandering booksellers" —from the president of the Città del Libro Foundation, Ignazio Landi, flanked by Mayor Jacopo Maria Ferri and Paola Rubbi for Vittoria Assicurazioni, the event's main sponsor.
"I feel out of place," said Buffon. Also on stage were well-known faces and beloved authors: Gianfelice Facchetti (Panathlon Award winner), Alessandro Piccinini (Bruno Raschi Lifetime Achievement Award winner), and Massimo Calandri with his "Segnalato," dedicated to organized fan support and collective identity. A special round of applause went to Santiago Giannetti, the young student who created the official image for the 2025 poster.
"Everyone deserved the victory," commented Ignazio Landi, "but just like in sports, here too we need a winner. And Buffon reminded us that it's not winning that matters, but getting back up every time."
