ITALY | JUVENTUS
Gianluigi Buffon is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of all time.
He won the World Cup in 2006 and has 10 league title medals. He started his career at Parma but is now considered a Juventus legend, having stuck by the club when they were relegated to Serie B.
2002 | 2003 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2020
4TH 2017
2006
Born on January 28th 1973, Gianluigi Buffon is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of all time. Buffon was born in Tuscany and joined the youth set-up at Parma at the age of 13.
Buffon initially joined Parma as an outfield player, and he played in several different positions during his time at the academy. He was always interested in playing in goal when both youth goalkeepers got injured, Buffon was asked to play in goal.
He was tall, robust and fitted in the goalkeeper role perfectly. Within two weeks, he was the youths teams, first-choice goalkeeper.
Parma promoted Buffon to the first team in 1995, and he would go on to make his debut that season at the age of just 17. The game was against Milan, and the young keeper kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
In his debut season with the first team, Buffon would make a total of seven appearances. The following season, Buffon was promoted to the first-choice goalkeeper at Parma; it was a successful year. Parma finished second in Serie A, and Buffon conceded just 17 goals!
In 97/98, Buffon would then make his debut in the Champions League. Parma beat Widzew Lodz in the qualifying rounds. That season Parma would finish fifth in the league.
98/99 was a big year for Buffon and Parma. They won the UEFA Cup, with Buffon keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 over Marseille. Parma also won the Coppa Italia. The keeper was voted Serie A ‘Goalkeeper Of The Year’ and received his first-ever Ballon d’Or nomination.
During the next two seasons, Parma would finish fourth, with Buffon winning the Goalkeeper Of The Year award again in 2000/01. This lead to interest from clubs all around the world. Buffon would leave Parma to join Juventus for a fee of around €51 million, a world record for a goalkeeper at the time.
His debut for Juventus came on August 26th 2001. Juve won 4-0, and Buffon would go on to keep three consecutive clean sheets in his first three games for his new club. In his first season at Juventus, he won the league title. However, his old club Parma would go on to beat Juventus in the Coppa Italia.
During 2002/03 season Buffon would help Juventus to a Champions League final against Milan at Old Trafford. It became known as the worst Champions League final of all time, finishing 0-0. Unfortunately for Buffon, he wasn’t the hero on the night. Juventus went down 3-2 on penalties. They did, however, win the Serie A once again, and Buffon was awarded the UEFA Best Goalkeeper Award.
Over the next few seasons, Buffon was involved in a betting scandal that would see Juve relegated to Serie B. Several of Juventus’ players had been betting on Serie A football matches which is illegal. Juventus had their two most recent league titles stripped. Many people thought Buffon, who was arguably the worlds best goalkeeper at the time, would leave the club to carry on playing at the highest level. He decided to stick it out with the club, and his decision went down very well with the fans.
Juventus spent just one season in the lower league, winning it and getting back in the Serie A in 2007/08. Buffon signed an extension with the club at the end of this season until 2012. However, this would be the start of a long struggle with injuries for the keeper. He finally had surgery before the beginning of the 2011/12 season.
Antonio Conte took over at the club, and his arrival sparked a new era of dominance for Juventus. They won the title that season, and Juventus went unbeaten. Buffon conceded just 16 goals in the 11/12 campaign.
Buffon was made captain for the 12/13 season, and Juventus won the Serie A again. Conte left Juventus in 2014 and was replaced with Allegri. The new manager took Juventus to the Champions League; Juventus won the league but couldn’t land the Champions League as they went down 3-1 in the final. It was a good competition for Buffon, with no keeper having more cleans sheets than his six.
Allegri took them to another Champions League final in 2016/17. This time they were beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid. Buffon was now a joint record holder of the most Champions League final appearances without a win (3).
His last season at the club came in 2017/18. He would win the league for a seventh consecutive time. His final game was on May 19th against Hellas Verona. He came off with his side winning 2-0 and was given a standing ovation by the fans.
On July 6th 2018, Buffon announced he’d signed a one year contract with PSG. His debut for them was a 4-0 win over Monaco in the Trophy des Champions, a fitting way to start your career at a new club. PSG was knocked out of the Champions League that season by Man United, with Buffon giving them one of the goals. After winning the Ligue 1, it was announced that Buffon would return to Juventus.
Upon returning to Juventus, Buffon was offered both the captaincy and the number one shirt; out of respect for the current players, he took the number 77, the same number he’d worn at Parma. Again Juventus won the league that season, adding another to Buffon’s growing list of Serie A titles.
Buffon featured in the Champions League for Juventus against Barcelona during this current season, and his side won 3-0. Setting a new record as he became the first goalkeeper ever to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League in four different decades!
Buffon first cap for the Italian National team came on October 29th 1997, aged just 19. It was in a World Cup qualifier with Buffon replacing the injured Pagliuca. He was part of the 1998 World Cup squad, but he didn’t make an appearance.
His first international tournament as the first-choice goalkeeper was Euro 2000. However, Buffon broke his hand in a warm-up game, and as a result, had to wait until 2002 to make an appearance at a major international tournament.
Italy made it to the Round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup, Buffon played every minute. It was a disappointing campaign for them. The same would happen at Euro 2004, with Buffon playing every game but Italy exiting early after a disappointing display.
2006 was the big year for the keeper. It was a World Cup year, and there was speculation that he wouldn’t be allowed to play due to the betting scandal at Juventus. However, he was selected, and it turned out to be the right decision. Italy won the World Cup, with Buffon conceding just two goals in seven games!
Italy struggled at the next two tournaments, and in the 2010 World Cup, Buffon managed just half a game after a back issue ruled him out for the remainder of the tournament. Italy didn’t win a single game.
Italy got to the final of the 2012 Euros; they were beaten 4-0 by Spain. However, Buffon was selected for the team of the tournament.
The 2014 World Cup was a repeat of 2010, with Italy not making it out of the group stages. As a result, the manager was sacked, and Antonio Conte took charge.
Conte took Italy to the quarters of Euro 2016, but Italy was beaten on penalties by Germany. Buffon saved one in the shootout. He officially retired from International football on May 17th 2018.
To this day, Buffon has made a total of 925 club appearances and 176 international appearances. He has won one World Cup, ten Serie A titles, one Ligue 1 title and finished runner up in the Champions League three times. His career isn’t over, and he is still looking for that elusive Champions League win!
Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is planning to retire in the summer of 2023. If Buffon were to continue playing for Juventus he could surpass Del Piero’s appearance record (705).
While it’s unknown exactly what Buffon will do once he hangs up his gloves – fans suspect he will continue at Juventus in a management/coach role.
Football News