Former Parma head coach Nevio Scala has admitted that he is torn over whether Gianluigi Buffon should continue playing for Italy.
The Juventus legend, who came through the ranks with the Ducali, was handed his Serie A debut by Scala in 1995.
Buffon was ready to quit the Azzurri after the 2018 World Cup, but their playoff defeat to Sweden and failure to qualify for Russia saw the goalkeeper bring his international retirement forward.
However, the 40-year-old has since stated that he will accept an invitation to play for Italy in their upcoming friendlies with Argentina and England following a plea from caretaker manager Luigi di Biagio.
"It's an embarrassing situation for me, because on the one hand I'd like Gigi to continue playing until he is 90 years old," Scala told Tuttomercatoweb.
"On the other, I say that it'd be better for the Nazionale to make choices and look forwards. Di Biagio has full powers at the moment in the role of CT (caretaker). If I were Buffon, I'd remove the embarrassment of making a decision from the CT and say certain things to make it clear.
"Yet on the other hand, it's not a simple situation, because Buffon has the Nazionale in his blood. He feels Italy in his soul. He cried after the flop with Sweden and he hated that last game, as all Italians did.
"Gigi will know the best decision for him in future, as he is no longer 20 years old, but 40. His family too probably want him to be at home more and not travelling round the world leaping from one goalpost to the other. It's a very complicated issue for me, but in a way I would be very happy to see Buffon continue playing."
Buffon is the most capped player in the history of Italy with 175 caps.
Giuseppe Labellarte
