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Gigi footballer. How old is Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon is perhaps the best goalkeeper of the twenty-first century, and certainly the most consistent - for more than twenty years he has shown a consistently reliable game in the goal frame of Parma, Juventus and the Italian national team. A football player who is respected by everyone without exception; even in the Internet filled with hatred and insults, it is difficult to find a negative in the direction of GiGi; is an example of a real captain, a real leader and mentor for his partners, a real person with a capital letter. Today we will tell you a little about the career of a great goalkeeper.

The future leader of the Italian national team was born on January 28, 1978, in Tuscany, famous for its vineyards, in the very small town of Carrara, the player's parents Maria and Adriano were shot putters, great-uncle on the father's side - Lorenzo Buffon was also the goalkeeper of the Italian national team, for which he played 15 matches, in addition to his account of five Italian championships, Lorenzo's career fell on the middle of the 20th century.

Everyone, well, or almost everyone, knows that Buffon played for only two clubs in his professional career: Parma and Juventus, but as a child he supported the Genoa club, from the almost eponymous city of Genoa. Despite the love for Genoa and the relative geographical proximity of Genoa - just 110 kilometers from his hometown, Gianluigi began his professional career at Parma, which paid about ten thousand dollars for the player. It is known that at that time Bologna and Milan also claimed the young goalkeeper. One way or another, on June 13, 1991, Buffon became part of a professional team, and four years later, at the age of 17, he played for the first time in Serie A and defended his goal intact, it's funny that the first goal in big football, Buffon missed it from Juventus, and even from his future coach Ciro Ferrara. In the 99th year, Parma, with Gianluigi at the gate, became the owner of the UEFA Cup.

In 2001, the goalkeeper of Parma was bought by Juventus for a mind-boggling 53 million euros, which even in our insanely inflated time for transfer prices looks grandiose, this is even if you don’t count that, taking into account inflation, Buffon would cost almost 70 million euro, in this case, the transfer seems even more grandiose. What can I say if so far this record has not been beaten.

And, strangely, you can’t say anything about Buffon’s early career for Juve, simply because he almost immediately became a wall, despite a couple of unsuccessful matches at the beginning. In the very first season, GiGi became the champion of Italy, the next, in addition to the championship, he was recognized as the best player in the Champions League, in which he reached the final, where Juventus lost to Milan and so on, Buffon simply had no failures, except maybe some individual matches, Gianluigi is great, both now and then. It can be noted that in 2005 the goalkeeper missed several months due to a shoulder injury.

A little earlier - in 2004, Buffon had every chance of ending up in jail because of a fake diploma, but limited himself to a fine, the player himself said the following about this:

« I am still ashamed in front of my parents because I bought a diploma. It was naive - I even tried to enter the university with that diploma. My parents are professors, so I felt that I should study.”

Buffon showed his character in 2006, when Juventus were sent to Serie B. GiGi stayed with the club at a difficult time, even though he was offered big contracts by Inter, Milan, and other top clubs.

It's funny, but there is nothing special to say about Buffon as part of the Old Lady, except perhaps for listing titles or injuries, Buffon and Juventus have always been faithful to each other, GJ, as we mentioned above, stayed with the club in difficult times, Juve , despite the generous offers that have always been, never considered selling his leader, in 2013 Buffon agreed to some salary cuts and so on. You can just make a reservation, repeat the same thing over and over again, that Buffon has always been impeccable.

It is better to list some interesting goalkeeper quotes, for example,

“I became a goalkeeper out of boredom, curiosity and vanity."

“To be a goalkeeper, you have to be a bit of a masochist.. And egocentric. The only thing you know is that you will definitely concede goals.”

Do you know how Buffon prepared for the penalty shootouts before matches? Try to guess, pause the video and write in the comments

“I don’t prepare for a penalty shoot-out in a hotel. I watch porn."

And more about penalties:

“My advice to those who take penalties: don’t movefrom the spot to the last moment."

Finally, a couple of interesting things:

“Fans don't care how you feel.Everyone looks at you as a football player, an idol. No one will stop you to ask, "Hey man, how's life?"

“People are annoyed that I scream a lot. They think I'm doing it on camera.So: I really do it on camera, because football is a circus, and we are clowns and jesters.

In the main team, Buffon made his debut in 1997 in a match against Russia, it is quite symbolic that in his last match for the national team, the goalkeeper lost his chances to travel to Russia, to the World Cup. Until 1997, GiGi played for various youth teams in the country, playing for the first time for the youth team in 1993, in the under-21 team, in which he spent 11 matches in two years, and became the 1996 European champion in his age category. Due to a hand injury, he missed EURO 2000, already with the main team, of course, but before EURO 2004, as the goalkeeper himself admits, he had a serious depression:

“I used to think that psychologists are people who just rob you.Now I think differently. Before Euro 2004 I was depressed. I worked with a psychologist for a long time, and when we suffered with the Danes in Portugal, I was the only one who smiled.

“I was happy with life and football, the world lay at my feet. However, depression affects thousands of people, regardless of whether you have money and fame. Dissatisfaction with a partner, not winning the Champions League or a job that you do not like, but only depresses you. These are tough moments. People, fans, they don't care how you feel. They see footballers as idols and generally don't care how you are. It's very easy to become a slave to your image.," Buffon wrote.

In 2006, Italy won the World Cup, and at UEFA EURO 2008, Buffon led his team with the captain's armband; at the 2010 World Championships, GiGi only played one match due to injury; at EURO 2012, the Italians reached the final, where they lost devastatingly to the Spaniards, the Italian national team completed their performance at EURO 2016 after losing a penalty shootout to the Germans in 1/4, but the qualifying tournament for entering the World Cup in Russia ended in a real tragedy for all of Italy , and for Buffon: The Italians entered the play-offs, as a result of which they lost the right to participate in the world championship to the Swedes - with tears in his eyes, after the second match, Buffon announced the end of his international career:

“I am leaving the Italian national team and leaving it to the young guys who have something to say - Perin and Donnarumma. Italian football certainly has a future. Hugs to Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini and De Rossi, with whom we spent almost 10 years. Thanks to all the guys who have been with us all this time, I hope we gave them something"

With 175 caps for the national team, Buffon has made 175 appearances – a record for Europe – only Mexican Claudio Suarez has more worldwide with 177 caps, Mohamed Al-Deaia of Saudi Arabia with his 178 caps and world record holder Egyptian Ahmed Hassan with 184 caps for the national team.

Officially, the footballer got his family in June 2011: the footballer married Alena Sheredova, a Czech fashion model who became Miss Czech Republic and participated in the Miss World contest. Alena gave Gianluigi two sons - Thomas Louis, born in 2007 and named after Cameroonian goalkeeper Thomas N'Kono, who was Buffon's idol, and David Lee, who was born in 2009. In May 2014, the couple announced their divorce.

Gigi's new chosen one was the Italian journalist Ilaria D'Amico, according to rumors, it was she who caused the divorce of Gianluigi and Alena. In January 2016, Buffon and D'Amico had a son, Leopold Matia.

That's all we would like to tell you about the career of Gianluigi Buffon. Thank you for taking the time to read, put a "plus sign", subscribe to the blog, to our instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel. Good evening!

Buffon is a goalkeeper that the whole world knows. His name is heard even among those people who are not enlightened in the subject of football. However, everyone knows about the legendary Gigi. After all, he is the best goalkeeper of the 2006 World Cup, the captain of the Italian national team and Juventus, for which he has been playing for 15 years in a row. And this is not all interesting facts about this football player.

early years

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was born into a sports family. Father was a shot putter. Mom was the champion of Italy not only in this sport - she won first place in the national championship in discus throwing. My uncle played in the A1 basketball division. And both sisters of our hero were professionally engaged in water polo. Gigi is also a distant relative of a man who once upon a time was also the goalkeeper of the Italian national team, and his name was Lorenzo Buffon.

Interestingly, as a child, Gigi was a fan of Genoa FC. And he studied football skills in a simple amateur team from a town called Spezia. After completing his studies, he returned to his hometown of Carrara and started playing for Perticata FC. It was also an amateur team. Interestingly, Buffon is a world famous goalkeeper who played as a midfielder in his youth.

Life before Juventus

Buffon is a goalkeeper whose biography is inextricably linked with the Turin club Juventus. But he came to it 15 years ago - in 2001. Until that moment, he had played for Parma for another ten years, five of which were for the senior squad. Interestingly, in addition to this team, such well-known clubs as Milan and Bologna fought for the young Gigi. However, it was Parma who managed to buy Buffon. For him, they gave, by the way, 15 million lire.

When Gianluigi was 14 years old, he took up his position as a goalkeeper. And then all the other goalkeepers of the youth team sat on the bench for a long time. The head coach, having watched the game of the newcomer for two weeks, approved him as the main goalkeeper.

And in 1995, Gigi made his debut in the match for the main team. He held a “dry” game, and “Parma” did not lose to “Milan”. But in the next match, he missed one goal - and to the one who became his mentor in the future. That player was But in general the results were very impressive, and already in the next season Buffon - a goalkeeper with great prospects, played 27 matches. And in 1997, he made his debuts in all European competitions. At the same time, by the way, he played the match for the first time with his national team.

Moving to Turin

In 2001, Gianluigi was bought out by Juventus for an amount of 75 billion lire. By the way - the largest amount in the history of football, which was only paid for a goalkeeper. The first season was good. The second one is even better. In 2002/03 he was even recognized as the best player in the Champions League.

Buffon played steadily, but in 2005 he was severely injured - he dislocated his shoulder. For three months he had to recover. During this time, he was replaced. And even after his return, Capello, who at that time was the head coach of the “Old Lady”, was in no hurry to release Gigi on the field. Only at the end of January he began to appear in matches. And there were successes. But despite the fact that Buffon is a goalkeeper with a good, stable game, he had a long period during which he did not manage to repel a single penalty. It lasted from the end of October 2003 until December 1, 2006.

Later years

All people who are fond of football know the story that happened in 2006. Then Juventus lost two league titles and was sent to the lower division - series B. Many players left the team and moved to other clubs. But not Buffon. The goalkeeper stayed, despite the fact that Milan and Inter made lucrative offers to him. In the end, the "Old Lady" returned to Serie A, and Gigi extended the contract. Interestingly, in the same year, 2007, Buffon was recognized

Unfortunately, the next season, Gigi was again overtaken by an injury - a herniated disc. A year later, he pulled a muscle in his right thigh. He missed many matches. In 2009, he underwent another operation - on his left knee. But as soon as he recovered, he immediately suffered a hip injury and was again out of the game. In 2010, Gigi received a hernia and another injury - a displacement of the intervertebral disc. Gianluigi was operated on and was out of action until 2011.

But despite all this, it turned out that Buffon is a goalkeeper with an incredibly strong endurance. Ignoring the constant injuries and injuries, he did not lose his grip and continued to play even in between operations. And despite how old Buffon is, the goalkeeper, or rather his endurance and strength, can still only be envied.

National team career and achievements

Italian goalkeeper Buffon made his debut for the national team in 1997 against Russia. His potential was immediately noticed. It is not surprising that at the age of 20 he became the main goalkeeper of the national team.

Needless to say, because at the World Championship, in 2006, he conceded only two goals. 418 "dry" minutes in a row - it was not only his personal achievement, but also the success of the team. However, in the first place, Walter Zengi still remained with his 518 minutes.

The Italian has a lot of achievements, titles and trophies. He is a 9-time Italian champion, who also won the Coppa Italia three times and the Supercup six times. 2 times became the finalist of the Champions League, and with the national team - the vice-champion of the world and the winner of the 2006 World Cup. But he has even more personal awards. Perhaps the most important is the rank of officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Personal life

Gigi had a wife - a Czech model. They got married after 3.5 years of relationship. And everything happened quite interestingly: initially they agreed that they would get married if Gigi became the world champion.

The couple have two children, Louis and David. True, since 2014, Alena and Gianluigi no longer live together - they divorced. Now Buffon has a new lover - a TV presenter named Ilaria D'Amico. By the way, in January of this year they had a son, who was named Leopoldo Mattia.

Interestingly, Buffon owns a restaurant located in the city of Pistoia (called Zerosei) and a tourist company La Romanina.

In general, a lot of interesting things can be said about this truly legendary goalkeeper. And it remains to be hoped that the 38-year-old goalkeeper, despite his adult (for an athlete) age, will continue to delight his fans for a long time to come.

The football world affectionately calls Gianluigi Buffon GiGi and is sure that the man is the best goalkeeper of our time. At the dawn of his career, the Italian was not going to stand guard over the goal, he just became interested in games, but over time he realized that he did not like to run much. Thus was born a talented goalkeeper, who is already legendary today.

Childhood and youth

Sport has surrounded Gianluigi since birth. Athletes gathered under one roof. Mother Maria Stella Mazocco is a shot putter, she held the title of Italian champion in discus throwing. His father also pursued a career as a shot putter, and two sisters were on the water polo team.

From childhood, the boy was attracted to football, and there were also footballers in the family - the grandfather's brother Lorenzo Buffon defended the gates of the Italian national team. Gianluigi disappeared at matches, choosing the Genoa club as an idol. And when he grew up, he himself went to learn the basics of the ball game, becoming a student of a football school in the town of La Spezia. Later, in his hometown of Carrara, located in northern Italy, he played with amateur footballers in two clubs as a midfielder.

The talented young man was noticed by the Parma club and in 1991 he bought him. Two more sports organizations bid for the purchase, but lost the "auction". Even "Parma" Buffon was expensive, they had to pay off the debt for two years. At the age of 14, Gianluigi was already the main goalkeeper of the youth team.

For the sake of sports passion, the young football player dropped out of high school without receiving a certificate of education. In the future, I decided to fill this gap by purchasing a law degree from the Antonio Manieri Research Center. In 2004, the deception was discovered, the famous goalkeeper was facing a prison term.

Football

The doors to big football for Gianluigi Buffon opened in 1995. The young man was assigned to the main team of Parma. Fans and athletes admired the talent of the 17-year-old boy - the novice goalkeeper played so virtuously and with high quality. Skills were compared with the experience of European football veterans, and the cost of contracts skyrocketed.

Gianluigi Buffon at Parma

In total, Buffon played 168 matches as part of Parma, adding the Italian Cup and Super Cup and one UEFA award to his personal piggy bank. Six years later, in 2001, Juventus bought the goalkeeper. Having learned the amount spent, the sports world gasped - € 52 million, so much was not paid for every rated midfielder or striker.

In the new place, the footballer showed himself even better. Juventus with Gianluigi managed to take the podium of the champion of his native country four times, and Buffon himself won the third Super Cup. However, in 2006, a terrible corruption scandal broke out, during which two league titles were taken away from the club and it was transferred to the lower league.

Gianluigi Buffon at Juventus

In addition, Juventus lost a number of top players. But Buffon remained loyal to the club, although there was an opportunity to get a great job at Manchester City - the British offered the goalkeeper € 15 million in 2008. Such an amount would raise the goalkeeper to first place in the list of the highest paid football players.

The scandal touched the goalkeeper personally. Gianluigi was accused of making bets in matches, the athlete hardly justified himself. In 2012, Buffon helped his native club to take a place in the big leagues again.

During his career, the goalkeeper managed to set two records for "dry" matches in 2014 and 2016: he did not allow the opponent to score a ball into the goal at first for 745 minutes, then extended this time by one minute. Buffon managed to join the illustrious colleagues in the shop: the Argentinean Javier Sanetti, fellow countrymen Paolo Maldini and in terms of the number of games in Serie A - in 2016 he played the 600th match.

Buffon also shone with talent outside of football clubs. The young man appeared in the national team in 1997. For the first time in the international arena, he fought with the Russian team for the opportunity to defend the country at the World Cup. The game ended in a draw, but in the second leg the Italians won, Gianluigi went to the championship as the third substitute goalkeeper.

At the 2006 World Championships, the Italian football player snatched the championship, and at the same time received an award as the best goalkeeper. However, two years later, the titled goalkeeper, who was put in charge of the team, failed to save the national team, although he defended the gate masterfully. The team had to leave the quarterfinals. A string of failures ensued. Only at Euro 2012 did the team reach the final and get bronze at the 2013 Confederations Cup.

Gianluigi Buffon's sports life was not without injuries. The goalkeeper had to retire for a short time several times, once he could not even go to the European Championship.

Personal life

Gianluigi Buffon is a handsome man with an ideal athletic figure (he is 1.91 m tall and weighs 92 kg). It is not surprising that the goalkeeper has always had many fans, and in his personal biography there are two serious novels that the press knows about, and three children.

Gianluigi Buffon and Alena Sheredova

Gianluigi dated a Czech professional model Alena Sheredova for almost four years. In 2006, young people made a bet that if Buffon won the World Cup, then the girl would accept the proposal to become a wife. The Italian brought the victory and celebrated the wedding. In the first family, two sons were born with a difference of a couple of years. The parents approached the choice of the name of the first child seriously, the heir is named after the Cameroonian goalkeeper Thomas N'Kono, the idol of the Italian goalkeeper.

In the spring of 2014, the couple filed for divorce, at which time Buffon was already dating TV presenter Ilaria D "Amico. In this union, the third son of football player Leopoldo Mattia was born.

Gianluigi Buffon and Ilaria D'Amico

Gianluigi earns not only football. The man owns a hotel and a bathhouse, shares a business in the field of ski tourism with his parents. The income comes from several car parks, a restaurant and a shop. He has a rich list of real estate: 25 apartments, a villa and two mansions.

Buffon made his debut match for Parma in 1995, when he was only 17 years old. Since then, in the form of "Parma" he entered the field 168 times. Particularly memorable was the 1998/99 season, when Buffon. He helped Parma win the Italian Cup, the national Super Cup and the UEFA Cup - in the final, the Italians defeated the Marseille Olympic - 3:0.

Birthplace: Carrara, Italy

Nationality: Italian

Role: goalkeeper

Born in the town of Carrara, Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buferom became a worthy follower of the glorious traditions of black-and-white goalkeepers, the heir to a galaxy of goalkeepers who wore the Juventus jersey and the Italian national team. Many people believe that the number one post is the most important in the team, but in reality this is not confirmed so often. Especially if we take into account not the biggest transfer fees of goalkeepers. However, Buffon's transfer from Parma to Juve turned all ideas about the value of a goalkeeper upside down.

The former Buffon club asked for an unprecedented amount for the goalkeeper, which, by the way, scared away the representatives of Barcelona, but not Juventus. The young and very gifted goalkeeper seems to have won the No. 1 jersey for both Juve and Italy for a long time. Buffon made his debut for Parma at the age of 17 in 1995 and has since made 168 appearances for the yellow-blues. He was part of the Italian national team that won the European Youth Championship in 1996. He was part of the Italian national team at the 1998 World Cup and missed EURO 2000 only due to injury.

People think in categories. That's the way they are. It was, is and will be. There is hardly any word that has not been labeled with a banal epithet. And if we are talking about football players, then in our topic there are no exceptions to this unspoken rule. Listen to some football commentary. In less than a few seconds, you will hear something familiar.

For a general example, let's analyze a bright special case - Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluigi Buffon - the goalkeeper of Juventus, a professional from professionals. Definitely a GOOD goalkeeper. But, as psychologists' research proves, the word "good" is the weakest of all possible amplifying epithets, so they try not to resort to its use. But for some reason, practically nowhere next to the name of Buffon, we will not find other loud adjectives.

At first glance, it's even a shame when Kan is called "iron", Toldo's flexibility is compared with cat plasticity, and they are silent about GiGi. But then you begin to see a pattern in this instead of injustice. Let's ask ourselves a question: what are the qualities of a player that Buffon stands out for? Let's put aside the general goalkeeper reaction, the ability to take a position, confident play on exits, flexibility, etc. Yes, he has it all, all these qualities are developed in him at a level that many goalkeepers never dreamed of. But does this affect our impression of the goalkeeper? No, not this.

We appreciate Ferrara not for his natural power, and we like Trezeguet not because of his innate coordination. It's probably a little more complicated. Without hitting the issues of psychology, we note that during the matches of the Italian Cup, when Kimenti was at the gate - also, by the way, a good goalkeeper, we did not leave a feeling of anxiety. And not only because we know Buffon better.

Recently, for Juventus fans, as it used to be for Parma fans, the mere sight of Gianluigi in the goal inspired calmness. And the first reason why this happened and is happening is that Buffon has no frankly failed matches. Of course, there are failures, such as, for example, the away league match against Arsenal last season, but these are only minor and, most importantly, extremely rare and short-lived recessions. And the second reason is as follows: Buffon has the highest command of all the techniques necessary to be considered a professional of the highest class.

Buffon plays less flashy. He does not have such a bright image as the same Canizares. There is no power that so frightens attackers Kahn. He does not make such dizzying throws as Toldo. And in the notorious game with his feet, he is inferior to van der Sar. But Buffon has practically no weak points. It is a fact. Let Canizares be thrown balls “by the scruff of the neck”, let Toldo be “crushed” by the attackers of the opponent during a corner, let Van der Sar miss every penalty without exception - all this worries Juve fans a little. For Gianluigi Buffon does not have any specific specialization.

He's just a versatile goalkeeper who can do everything. And at twenty-five years old, the age for a goalkeeper is almost childish, he can boast of this. That is why no label can be attached to him yet - this would not show the full range of his multifaceted talent. After all, there is still no such category that would not be limited. And, perhaps, in ten years we will hear the phrase of the same commentator: "Gianluigi Buffon defends the most experienced goalkeeper"!

A member of the junior team, which celebrated success at the European Youth Championship in 1996, Buffon made his debut in the main team in the 1997 match with Russia. He went with the national team to the World Cup-98, where, however, he did not play a single match. After missing EURO 2000™ due to injury, Buffon defended against the Azzurra at the World Cup in Japan and Korea, where he played all four matches.

2001: The price of 52.29 million euros, which was asked in Parma, could scare away Barcelona, but not the Turintians, who were looking for a replacement for Edwin van der Sar. A year later, Juve became champions, and the impenetrable Buffon missed only 23 years in 34 matches - the fewest in Serie A. 2002/03: The following season, the old lady again won the Scudetto, and Buffon made 32 appearances in Serie A adding to them also 15 matches in the UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately for Turin, Juvs failed to break Milan's opposition in the final at Manchester's Old Trafford, but Buffon performed superbly in the European Cup match, parrying Philippe Inzaghi's shot in the first half in style and saving two penalties in the series of 11 meters.

Full name: Gianluigi Buffon Masocco

Growth: 191 cm

The weight: 83 kg

Role: goalkeeper

Biography of Gianluigi Buffon

One of the outstanding goalkeepers of our time was born in the small town of Carrara, Tuscany. The predisposition to sports was in Buffon's genes, his entire family, up to his grandfather's cousin, went in for sports. Someone professionally (mother was the champion of Italy in shot put and discus throwing), and someone limited himself to performances in the national arena (his father played in a local sports club). Gianluigi was the second child in the family, his older sister Gendalina and younger Veronica were water polo players. There was also a real star in the Buffon family tree - Lorenzo Buffon - grandfather's cousin, who at one time was the main goalkeeper of the Italian national team.

Married to the Czech model Alena Sheredova - vice-miss of the Czech Republic in 1998. In 2007, the couple had a son, Louis Thomas, and on October 31, 2009, David Lee was born. Buffon is involved in charity work, and also owns the Zerosei restaurant, which is in the center of the town of Pistoia.

Buffon club career

He started playing football at the age of six, playing as a midfielder in the children's teams Canatello Sepor and Perticata. In 1990, he moved to the Bonascola team from his hometown of Carrara. As part of this team, Gianluigi retrained as a goalkeeper and a year later moved to the Parma Academy as one of the most promising goalkeepers in Italy. As part of the youth team of Parma, he took the Youth Cup of Italy.

On November 19, 1995, Gigi made his debut at the base of Parma in an important match against Milan. The Mediterranean team was far from the top of Italian football at the time, so the 0-0 away score was in many ways a sensation. In his debut season, Gianluigi played 9 matches, and after the sale of the second goalkeeper, he managed to finally gain a foothold in the basis of Parma. At the end of the 1996/97 season, Buffon had already played 32 matches, and his team managed to qualify for the Eurocups. In 1999, Parma won the UEFA Cup. On the way to the coveted trophy, the Italian club beat Bordeaux, Atlético Madrid, and the Scottish Rangers. In the final match against Marseille at the Luzhniki stadium, Gianluigi kept his goal intact, while Parma confidently won 3-0.

In the same year, he received the first individual awards such as the best goalkeeper in Italy and the best young football player in the world. The 2000/01 season was the last in the Parma camp. The team gradually lost its leaders, who were enchanting on the European arena a year earlier. Buffon played in all 34 games and conceded 31 goals (second most in the league). The team reached the final of the Coppa Italia, in which they lost to Roma.

Moving to Juventus

In the summer of 2001, absolutely all the sports media in the world were carried away by Buffon's transfer to the Juventus camp. The "Old Signora" did not win the Scudetto for four whole years, which was an extremely unsatisfactory result for her. The transfer of the goalkeeper was personally interested in the president of the "striped" Umberto Agnelli, who forked out 105 billion lire (~ 52 million euros). This transfer is still a record for the position of the goalkeeper. Gianluigi made his debut for Juve in the first round match of Serie A against the reigning champions of Italy, Roma. At first, the 23-year-old goalkeeper made small mistakes, but the Bianconeri mentor, Marcello Lippi, believed in Gigi's talent and provided the vote of confidence necessary for adaptation.

At the end of his debut season, Buffon started all 34 Serie A games and won the Italian title - the first of his career. The following season, he continued to demonstrate a high level of skill, conceding 23 goals in 33 matches and receiving the title of the best goalkeeper in Italy for the second year in a row. In the 2002/03 season, he reached the Champions League final with the team, and won another Scudetto in the national championship. Since 2004, he began to play under the guidance of Fabio Capello, who at first preferred Christian Abbiati to Buffon. In addition, Gigi received an unpleasant dislocation of the shoulder, because of which he could not play for four months.

All this cast doubt on Buffon's future career at Juve, but by the end of the 2005/06 season, the Italian keeper managed to prove his high level of skill and returned to the base. After a brilliant World Cup, Gianluigi was nominated for the Ballon d'Or and finished second, losing the award to his teammate, Fabio Cannavaro. In the same summer, Calchapoli broke out - one of the most high-profile scandals related to match-fixing. Juventus went to Serie B and Buffon, despite the huge number of offers, made the difficult decision to stay with the team. In 37 Serie B appearances, Gianluigi conceded 21 goals as Juve confidently won the division and returned to the elite.

Hard times

After returning to the elite, Juventus fell on hard times. The team was forced to rebuild, and Buffon, along with del Piero, remained the only leaders of the once great team. Over the next four years, the "stripes" did not win a single trophy, but Gigi still remained at the forefront. In 2007, he became the best goalkeeper in Italy according to the fans and the best goalkeeper in the world according to the IFFISS, which is the only time when a second division player has received such awards.

In the summer of 2008, Buffon extended the agreement with the Turin club until 2013. However, the 2008/09 season turned out to be unsuccessful: Gigi received two serious injuries at once, one of which required surgical intervention. The following season, troubles continued to haunt the Italian goalkeeper, who played only 16 regular season games. All this prompted other clubs to make Juventus offers to transfer the goalkeeper. The price of Buffon gradually dropped to 25 million euros, but the Juve management refused to sell their legend. However, in 2008, Manchester City were really close to signing Gigi, offering 75 million euros for him with an annual salary of 15 million, but after much deliberation, it was decided to leave the keeper in Juve.

Second youth

When in July 2010, Buffon suffered another injury - a displaced intervertebral disc - his future prospects were vague. But everything changed with the arrival of Antonio Conte to the team. The ambitious specialist announced a total renewal of the roster, but entrusted the 31-year-old keeper with a place on the goal ribbon. In the 2011/12 season, Gianluigi plays 35 matches, in which he concedes a record low number of goals - 16. Without a single defeat, Juve wins the Italian championship, and Buffon is awarded the title of the best goalkeeper in Italy according to the football association and fans.

In the 2012/13 season, Buffon was noted for several achievements, having played 500 matches in the Italian championship and 700 games for Juventus. This season he won the fifth championship title. Back in January 2013, Buffon called for a halving of his salary so as not to create trouble for his club. In May 2013, the Italian keeper played his 150th match as team captain. At the end of the 2013/14 season, Gianluigi won his sixth league title, becoming the most titled Italian player currently playing.

Buffon's international career

Gianluigi won the European Under-21 Championship in 1996. In that team, he played along with his future partners in Juventus and the adult Italian team. A year earlier, Buffon also became the silver medalist of the European Championship under 20 years old. He made his senior debut on October 29, 1997 in the World Cup play-offs against Russia. He came on as a substitute for the injured Gianluica Pagliuki and conceded one goal from Fabio Cannavaro, who scored an own goal. As a result, Italy nevertheless qualified for the 1998 World Cup, and Buffon went there as the second goalkeeper and played all the matches on the bench.

At Euro 2000, Buffon was supposed to be the main goalkeeper of the team, but was injured on the eve of the tournament and was forced to stay at home. Subsequently, he became the main gatekeeper and did not miss a single international tournament. At the 2006 World Cup, he was recognized as the best goalkeeper, conceding only 2 goals in the tournament. At the end of this season, Buffon was nominated for the Golden Ball award. On the eve of Euro 2008, he received the captain's armband and led his team to four matches. Italy performed unsuccessfully, with difficulty overcoming the group stage. In the quarter-finals, the Blue Team faced Spain. Buffon managed to keep a clean sheet for 90 minutes, repelling Daniel Guiza's penalty, but Italy still conceded in extra time and were eliminated from the tournament.

The 2010 World Cup was unsuccessful for Buffon, in the first match against Paraguay he was injured, due to which he was forced to leave South Africa ahead of schedule. But already at the next Euro, Gigi became a real hero of the nation, personally pulling the "blue team" to the final. Here Gianluigi saved his team from a missed goal several times, but an uncertain defense game led to the fact that Spain simply tore Buffon to pieces. The players of the "red fury" made 12 shots on target, scoring four goals. At the 2014 World Cup, Buffon became one of the few "bright rays" in the Italian team, which failed to reach the playoffs. With 155 appearances, Gianluigi holds the national team record for most appearances.

Buffon's achievements

"Parma"

Winner of the Italian Cup 1999
Finalist of the Italian Cup 2001
UEFA Cup Winner 1999
Italian Super Cup Winner 1999

Juventus

Champion of Italy 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014
Serie B Champion 2007
Winner of the Italian Cup 2002, 2004, 2012
Winner of the Italian Super Cup 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013
UEFA Champions League finalist 2003
Italian Super Cup finalist 2005

Team Italy U-19

Silver medalist of the European Championship 1995

Team Italy U-21

European Champion 1996
Mediterranean Games Winner 1997

Italy national team

World Champion 2006
Silver medalist of the European Championship 2012
Bronze medalist of the Confederations Cup 2013

Individual achievements

The best goalkeeper of the first decade of the XXI century according to the IFFIIS
The best goalkeeper of the present time
Best football goalkeeper of the year in Italy (Oscar del Calcio): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012
Bravo Trophy Winner (World's Best Young Footballer): 1999
UEFA Best Goalkeeper in Europe: 2003
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2003
UEFA Champions League Best Goalkeeper: 2003, 2006
Member of the symbolic team of the UEFA season (3): 2003, 2004, 2006
The best football goalkeeper in Italy according to fans: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
Winner of the Lev Yashin Prize (Best goalkeeper of the World Cup): 2006
Member of the symbolic team of the 2006 World Cup
Included in the symbolic team of the year Serie A: 2012
Member of the symbolic team of the European Championship 2008
Member of the symbolic team of the European Championship 2012
Included in the symbolic team of the UEFA Europa League: 2013/14
Included in the FIFA 100 list
Record holder for the number of matches played for the Italian national team

Interesting facts from the life of Gigi Buffon

The goalkeeper did not even finish high school, so he would be forced to buy a fake diploma. When the scam was revealed, the footballer was threatened with four years in prison, but the judges went to meet the player of the national team and issued a suspended sentence.
Buffon was accused several times of belonging to fascist parties. While playing for Parma, he wore an 88 number shirt, which during the Third Reich meant "Heil Hitler".