Gianluigi Buffon CV
Gianluigi Buffon
 |
| Personal information |
| Full name | Gianluigi Buffon |
| Date of birth | 28 January 1978 (1978-01-28) (age 32) |
| Place of birth | Carrara, Italy |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper |
| Club information |
| Current club | Juventus |
| Number | 1 |
| Youth career |
| 1991–1995 | Parma |
| Senior career* |
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–2001 | Parma | 168 | (0) |
| 2001– | Juventus | 274 | (0) |
| National team‡ |
| 1995–1997 | Italy U-21 | 11 | (0) |
| 1997– | Italy | 102 | (0) |
| |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2010.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 June 2010 |
Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon (born 28 January 1978 in
Carrara), is an
Italian FIFA World Cup,
UEFA Cup, and
Serie A winning
goalkeeper who plays for
Serie A club
Juventus and the
Italian national team. He is considered by many fans and experts to be one of most dominant and successful goalkeepers in recent history.
[1][2] Buffon was declared by
Pelé to be one of the 125 greatest living footballers in the world, and has also been named the
Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record nine times.
[edit] Club career
Buffon began his career with the youth system of Parma in 1991 at the age of 13. He graduated from the youth squad in 1995 and at the young age of just 17, Gianluigi made his
Serie A debut for
Parma in a 0–0 home draw against
A.C. Milan on 19 November 1995. He went on to make 8 more first team appearances that season. In 1996, his second full season with the club, Buffon was named as the starting goalkeeper and would go on to make well over 200 appearances for his club in all competitions. In his fourth season with the club, he won the
UEFA Cup. He was by this time, already considered a major prospect and in the summer of 2001, he was snatched up by Italian giants Juventus for a world-record goalkeeper's transfer fee of a reported £32.6 million,
[3] with part of the transfer fees paid via the transfer of
Jonathan Bachini to Parma.
[4] That season Juve also signed
Lilian Thuram.
[edit] Juventus
Buffon transferred from Parma to
Juventus in the summer of 2001, and has never looked back. It was rumoured that Buffon nearly signed with
A.S. Roma in 2001 following his departure from
Parma but then club president
Franco Sensi instead opted for
Atalanta B.C. keeper
Ivan Pelizzoli. Buffon later commented "That was never a possibility really... I don’t think that Roma had the finances to make an investment of such a nature."
[5]
In his first season with Juventus, Buffon was immediately inserted into the starting eleven and appeared in 45 official matches, helping his team to the Serie A title. He totaled 47 appearances the following season, also helping Juventus to the
UEFA Champions League Final, only for his team to lose in a penalty shoot-out to
A.C. Milan, although they did celebrate the
Scudetto that season yet again. In 2003, he received the
UEFA Most Valuable Player and
Best Goalkeeper awards, and was named by
Pelé as one of the
top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In his third season with the club, Buffon again was the undisputed starter making 38 appearances, and in his fourth season at Juve, he amounted for 48 more appearances as well as his third
Scudetto in four years with the Turin giants. In August 2005, during the annual
Luigi Berlusconi Trophy match against Milan, Buffon collided with
Milan midfielder
Kaká while chasing a loose ball, and suffered a dislocated shoulder that required surgery. His operation was successful and he returned to the pitch in November, but played only once as another injury returned him to the sidelines until January. Christian Abbiati was transferred to the club, to fill in for the injury strucken Buffon, however he did recover in time to help lead Juventus to their second consecutive
Scudetto and his fourth overall with the club. On 12 May 2006, Buffon, along with Juventus teammate and fellow goalkeeper
Antonio Chimenti along with many other players, were implicated as participants 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 jeopardized his chance of playing in the
2006 FIFA World Cup, but he was officially named Italy's starting goalkeeper on 15 May. The players were cleared of all charges by the
FIGC on 27 June 2007.
[6] Following Juventus' punishment in the
Calciopoli scandal, rumors spread that
Juventus were shopping Buffon on the transfer market as a cost-cutting measure, and many teams became interested in his services.
[7] However, no deals ever materialized as Buffon elected to remain with
Juventus; his agent said, "
Serie B is a division he has never won and he wants to try to do this."
AC Milan vice-president
Adriano Galliani stated in April 2007 that Buffon's decision to stay proved a catalyst in re-signing incumbent
Dida,
[8] though Buffon later denied having ever been contacted by Milan. After Juventus won the
Cadetti and were promoted back into the top flight, Buffon signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2012.
[9] Buffon was still in his best form for the 2007–2008
Serie A season, as he helped
Juventus to a third place finish as well as
UEFA Champions League qualification in their first season back. In 2008–2009, Buffon was again sidelined by several injuries, having problems with his back but principally a bad groin strain and a pulled muscle.
[10] From September through January, new Juventus reserve keeper,
Alexander Manninger, held his position between the sticks, and gained a lot of praise for his deputizing.
[11] Because of this and Juve's poor form towards the end of the season, as Buffon was seen despondent as the team drew
Lecce and
Atalanta, there were further rumors that Buffon was upset and wanted to leave.
[12] He admitted he was upset but had no intentions to leave. After a discussion with management, he said he was reassured about the future of Juventus and signed a year extension to 2013.
[edit] International career
Buffon was awarded his first cap for Italy on 29 October 1997, at the age of nineteen, as an injury replacement for
Gianluca Pagliuca during a qualifier for 1998 FIFA World Cup play-off against
Russia. He was called up for the
1998 World Cup finals, but did not play a single game as Pagliuca remained first choice. He was a member of the Italy squad at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the
2002 World Cup and
Euro 2004. Buffon was also the first choice goalkeeper for Italy at the
Euro 2000, but broke his hand in a friendly match against Norway just eight days before the tournament started, and had his starting place taken by
Francesco Toldo.
During the
2006 World Cup finals, Buffon was in stunning form, as he conceded just two goals and kept five clean sheets, in addition to a 453-minute scoreless streak. The only goals he conceded were an
own goal by teammate
Cristian Zaccardo against the United States and a
Zinedine Zidane penalty in
the final against France, which ended 1–1 in extra-time and led to a penalty shootout in which neither Buffon nor
Fabien Barthez saved a spot kick. The lone miss was
David Trezeguet's effort which clanged off the bottom of the
crossbar and failed to cross the line, which enabled Italy's
Fabio Grosso to seal the victory for the
Azzuri.
[13] Buffon received the
Yashin Award for his accomplishments throughout the competition.
[14] Buffon recorded five clean sheets in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and has a career total of six.
Buffon was named Italy captain for
Euro 2008 after incumbent
Fabio Cannavaro was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. In the second game of the group stage against Romania on 13 June, he saved an 81st minute penalty from
Adrian Mutu as the match ended 1–1 to keep Italy's hopes alive. Buffon kept a clean sheet against France in the final group game. Italy were eliminated in the quarter-finals nine days later after a 4–2 penalty shootout loss to Spain in which Buffon saved one penalty.
[15]
On 14 June 2010, Buffon was replaced at half-time in Italy's 1–1 draw in their
World Cup Group F opener against
Paraguay after he had a problem with his sciatic nerve, and did not play again in the group stage.
[16]
[edit] Personal life
Gianluigi Buffon was born into an athletic family: his mother, Maria Stella, was a
discus thrower; his father, Adriano, was a
weightlifter; his two sisters Veronica and Guendalina played
volleyball and his uncle, Angelo Masocco, played
basketball. Goalkeeping legend
Lorenzo Buffon is a cousin of Gianluigi's grandfather.
Buffon is currently engaged with
Czech model Alena Šeredová: they have two sons, Louis Thomas (born December 28, 2007) and David Lee (born October 31, 2009). The first of their children is named after
Thomas N'Kono, who used to be the favourite goalkeeper of Buffon during childhood. Buffon and
Del Piero are best friends.
[edit] Career statistics
[edit] Honours
[edit] Juventus
[edit] International
[edit] Individual
- Bravo Award: 1999
- UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player: 2003
- UEFA Club Football Awards Best Goalkeeper: 2003
- FIFA 100
- Yashin Award: 2006
- 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
- European Footballer of the Year (Silver Ball): 2006
- Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
- Onze d'Onze (Ideal Team of The Year, GK): 2003, 2006
- UEFA Team of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2006
- FIFPro World XI: 2006, 2007
- IFFHS Best Goalkeeper: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
- UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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