Gianluigi Buffon

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This article is about the Italian goalkeeper. For other uses, see Buffon (disambiguation).
Gianluigi Buffon
Image:GianluigiBuffon.jpg
Personal information
Full name Gianluigi Buffon
Date of birth January 28, 1978
Place of birth Carrara, Italy
Height 1.91 m
Nickname Gigi
Position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Juventus F.C.
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1995-2001
2001-		 Parma F.C.
Juventus F.C.		 168 (0)
158 (0)
National team**
1995-1997
1997-		 Italy U-21
Italy		 9 (0)
72 (0)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of October 1, 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of November 15, 2006.

Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon (born January 28, 1978) is an Italian FIFA World Cup-winning goalkeeper, who is widely considered the best in the current game. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper for Juventus F.C. and the Italian national team. He was transferred to Juventus from childhood club Parma F.C. in 2001, for what was the largest transfer figure ever for a goalkeeper at £32 million.


Contents

[edit] Early life and family

Gianluigi Buffon was born in Carrara, into a sporting family: his mother Maria Stella was a discus thrower, his father Adriano a weightlifter, his two sisters Veronica and Guendalina volleyball players, and his uncle Angelo Masocco a basketball player. He is also related to former A.C. Milan and Italy goalkeeper Lorenzo Buffon, who is the cousin of Gianluigi's grandfather.

[edit] Career

[edit] Club career

As a young boy, Buffon played as a midfielder. Then, at the age of 14, he was forced to play as a goalkeeper because the two goalkeepers were both injured; after two weeks he became the main goalkeeper.

In 1995, at the age of 17, Buffon was signed by Parma A.C. (now Parma F.C.) and he made his debut in the Italian Serie A championship against A.C. Milan. After his excellent form for Parma, Buffon was awarded his first cap for the Italian national team at age 19, being called on to replace the injured Gianluca Pagliuca during the 1998 FIFA World Cup play-off game against Russia in Moscow. Buffon was chosen for the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad, but did not play a single game as Pagliuca remained first choice. After helping Italy through a successful Euro 2000 qualifying campaign, Buffon transferred from Parma to Juventus F.C. in 2001, for a world-record goalkeeper's fee of €52.29 million.[1] He has said this is too much money for one player, but that he does not feel under pressure because of it. Buffon started for Italy at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 2003, he won the "Most Valuable Player" and "Best Goalkeeper" awards at the UEFA European Football Awards. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In 2004-05, Buffon helped Juventus to their third Serie A title in four seasons. In the summer of 2005, during the annual match for the Luigi Berlusconi Trophy, Buffon needed surgery for a dislocated shoulder after colliding with Milan's Kaká. His operation was successful and he returned to the pitch in November, but played only once as injury again returned him to the sidelines until January.

On May 12, 2006, it was revealed, amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding Juventus and the Serie A match-fixing scandal, that Buffon, along with former Juventus goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti and several other players, participated in illegal betting on Serie A matches while with Parma. The following day, he voluntarily allowed himself to be questioned by Turin magistrates in an attempt to clear his name. While admitting that he did bet on sports (until regulations went into effect in late 2005, banning players from doing so), he vehemently denied placing wagers on Italian football matches. Fears arose that he had placed his 2006 FIFA World Cup squad spot in jeopardy, but he was officially named Italy's starting goalkeeper on May 15.

On July 14, Juventus was relegated to Serie B following the outcome of the Italian match-fixing scandal, while Lazio and Fiorentina were penalized in a point deduction. Juventus was also deducted 30 points for the next season's campaign (later reduced to 17 and then to 9 under appeal). Because of this, rumours about a transfer for Buffon spread, as teams such as Arsenal F.C.,[2] Milan, Barcelona and A.S. Roma were interested in him. It was also rumoured Buffon would go to Chelsea in January with the departure of Cech with a long injury. However, Buffon preferred to stay in Torino. At first Milan, offered to exchange Christian Abbiati for Buffon, but then loaned Abbiati to Torino Calcio. On July 19th, Buffon's agent announced he would stay at Juventus even in Serie B, saying "it is a division he has never won and he wants to try to do this".[3]

[edit] International career

Buffon was a member of the Italian Olympic Team at the 1996 Olympic Games, and played for Italy in the Euro 2004 tournament.

In an outstanding performance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Buffon let in only two goals; one was an own goal by teammate Cristian Zaccardo in the game against the USA, and the other was a penalty kick from Zinedine Zidane in the final. Buffon kept his scoreless streak intact for 453 minutes at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, putting him fifth in the all-time ranking for unbeaten goalkeepers. FIFA declared Buffon FIFA best goalkeeper of the 2006 World Cup.

[edit] Quotes

  • "I would say that I am having less sex now that I’m playing in Serie B – there is more to think about in this division.” -- Buffon, as quoted in Football Italia
  • "Gigi Buffon is in every way an original. His talent very quickly made him the number one of both Parma and Italy, whilst his personality, which is never banal, is characterised by great bravery both in his statements to the press and as he comes out to smother the ball at the feet of onrushing players." -- Leo Turrini

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Honours


[edit] References

  1. ^ Gianluigi Buffon at UEFA
  2. ^ "Liverpool set for raid on Juve." The Sunday Times (London) (online edition). 16 July 2006. Accessed 16 July 2006.
  3. ^ http://www.ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-07-19_1199631.html

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Zinedine Zidane		 UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player
2002-03		 Succeeded by
Deco
Preceded by
Oliver Kahn		 Yashin Award
2006		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Italy Italy squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists Italy

1 Toldo | 2 Bergomi | 3 P. Maldini | 4 Cannavaro | 5 Costacurta | 6 Nesta | 7 Pessotto | 8 Torricelli | 9 Albertini | 10 Del Piero | 11 D. Baggio | 12 Pagliuca | 13 Cois | 14 Di Biagio | 15 Di Livio | 16 Di Matteo | 17 Moriero | 18 R. Baggio | 19 Inzaghi | 20 Chiesa | 21 Vieri | 22 Buffon | Coach: C. Maldini
Italy Italy squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Italy

1 Buffon | 2 Panucci | 3 Maldini | 4 Coco | 5 Cannavaro | 6 Zanetti | 7 Del Piero | 8 Gattuso | 9 Inzaghi | 10 Totti | 11 Doni | 12 Abbiati | 13 Nesta | 14 Di Biagio | 15 Iuliano | 16 Di Livio | 17 Tommasi | 18 Delvecchio | 19 Zambrotta | 20 Montella | 21 Vieri | 22 Toldo | 23 Materazzi | Coach: Trapattoni
Italy Italy squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Champions (4th Title) Italy

1 Buffon | 2 Zaccardo | 3 Grosso | 4 De Rossi | 5 Cannavaro | 6 Barzagli | 7 Del Piero | 8 Gattuso | 9 Toni | 10 Totti | 11 Gilardino | 12 Peruzzi | 13 Nesta | 14 Amelia | 15 Iaquinta | 16 Camoranesi | 17 Barone | 18 Inzaghi | 19 Zambrotta | 20 Perrotta | 21 Pirlo | 22 Oddo | 23 Materazzi | Coach: Lippi
Juventus F.C. - Current Squad

1 Buffon | 2 Birindelli | 3 Chiellini | 4 Kovač | 5 Tudor | 6 C. Zanetti | 8 Giannichedda | 9 Bojinov | 10 Del Piero | 11 Nedvěd | 12 Mirante | 13 Piccolo | 14 Balzaretti | 15 Marchisio | 16 Camoranesi | 17 Trézéguet | 18 Boumsong | 19 Paro | 20 Palladino | 22 Belardi | 23 Guzmán | 25 Zalayeta | 27 Zebina | 29 De Ceglie | 30 Legrottaglie | 32 Marchionni | 33 Urbano | Coach Deschamps
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