Gianluigi Buffon, known for his point-blank stops, is easily one of his generation's best keepers. He will look to repeat his dominating performance from 2006 World Cup as he makes appearance in his fourth World Cup in South Africa. iSporter Siddharth Panjwani talks about his favorite shot stopper.
Gigi made his debut with the Azzurri in 1997 at the young age of 19, in play-off qualifier against Russia. He has been an integral part of the team since then but has remained in the spotlight post 2006 World Cup.
This superman from Italy won the Lev Yashin Award (goalkeeper of the tournament) when he conceded only two goals in the tournament, an own goal by Zaccardo and second from Zidane's penalty kick in the final. Buffon produced clean sheets one after the other and remained unbeaten for a record 460 minutes.
Buffon's club career began in 1995 for Parma against AC Milan. He made 8 appearances in his first season before he was named in the starting line-up. He went on to make 150+ appearances and won UEFA Cup. At that young age, he was already been seen as a major prospect for ITALY.
Juventus paid a transfer fee 32.6 million Euros for this 6ft 3in keeper in 2001. Gigi has been with Juventus since then even though the club got relegated to a lower division post a match fixing scandal in 2006. Italian giants Inter Milan has been showing interest in Buffon but GiGi has no intentions to move.
The Azzuri's hope in the World Cup depends heavily on the performance of Buffon and we hope he continues from where he left 4 years ago.
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