Buffon: The Greatest Goalie in the Business

When other teams’ stars are usually those playing forwards, midfielders, strikers, or wingmen, Gianluigi Buffon proves his existence as the underrated goalkeeper for Italy.

Buffon was born on January 28, 1978 in Carrara, Italy.  Soccer was in his blood.  His grandfather’s cousin is Lorenzo Buffon, who played with Inter Milan and Italy as a goalie in the 50s and 60s.

Buffon joined Parma’s junior team in 1991 and later signed with its senior counterpart in 1995.  It was not until his fourth season with Parma that he helped the team win the UEFA Cup.  At 23, Buffon became the highest paid goalkeeper when he signed a £ 32 million with Juventus.

It was with Juventus that Buffon made a name for himself.  He won the 2001-2 and 2002-3 Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana for the same two years, and the 2006-7 Serie B.  Juventus also won the 2004-05 and 2005-06 titles, but was later stripped following the Calciopoli scandal.  Juventus was demoted to Serie B, but Buffon stuck by his team and helped the team return to Serie A.

His personal accolades surpass those aforementioned.  Soccer legend Pele named Buffon as one of the top 125 players in the game.  Among others, Buffon has won the 1999 Bravo Award, UEFA Champions MVP in 2003, UEFA Best Goalkeeper in the same year, FIFA 100, Serie A Goalkeeper of the year consecutively from 1999 to 2006 and another in 2008, and many more.

Buffon spent a couple of years in the Italy U-21 team and earned 12 caps.  In 1997, he earned his cap for Italy’s senior team during a qualifying match for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.  In 2006, he showed his amazing skills with a 453 minutes scoreless streak and ended in the team’s victory in the championship.  Buffon became Italy’s team captain for Euro 2008.

Currently, Buffon is still with Juventus after extending his contract until 2012.  And he is still considered one of the best goalkeepers in soccer.