Gigi Buffon – Italy, Juventus, facts, info, stats, personal info, history, career

Birthday:

1978/01/28

Full name:

Gianluigi Buffon

Place of Birth:

Carrara, Italy

Height:

6ft 3in (1.91m)

Weight:

183 lbs (83kg)

Position:

Goalkeeper

Nickname(s):

Buffon, Gigi, Superman

Wife / girlfriend:

Alena Seredova

Lives in:

Torino

Club information

Current club:

Juventus

Previous clubs:

Parma (1995-2001)

National team:

Italy

Youth clubs:

Parma (1991-1995)

Facts & Background

1 About
2 Background
3 Club Football
4 International Football - Italy
- 4.1 International Goals
5 Awards and Honours
- 5.1 Personal Awards
- 5.2 Career Statistics
6 Personal Info
- 6.1 Wife / Girlfriend
7 Sponsors
8 Important Links
9 References

About

Buffon has become known as one of the world’s best goalkeepers due to his millisecond reactions in the goal. He began his career playing for Serie A’s Parma, and now plays with Juventus his team since 2001. He began his international career on the roster for Italy in 1996 for the Olympic games, eventually leading Italy to hold the most coveted trophy in the world, that of the World Cup. In 2006 Italy took the FIFA World Cup, and Buffon only allowed two goals, shutting out 7 teams and receiving the Yashin award for best goalkeeper of the cup. His quickness and poise in the goal, undoubtedly make his opponents work harder, it is not easy to hit a net protected by one of the world’s best set of hands.

Background

The man that became Italy’s best goalkeeper was born Gianluigi Buffon on January 28, 1978 in Carrara, Tuscany, the Northern region of Italy. Born into a family of natural athletes, Buffon made his mark early playing soccer in the streets. His father Adriano Buffon was a weightlifter and his mother, Maria Stella was a discus thrower. Veronica and Guendalino, his two sisters were volleyball players. He was bred into a family of athletes. He played soccer at his school, Canaletto. He was found by the youth club Parma in 1991 where he played as a midfielder. It was not until the two goalkeepers were hurt that he subbed in as a keeper, and he found his place on the field. It was in 1995 at just 17 years old Parma’s Serie A team added him to their roster and thus began the career of one of the best goalkeepers in the history of soccer.

Club Football

Parma A.C. When Buffon was 17 he began his run in Italy’s Serie A league. His first match with the club in 1995 was against A.C. Milan. After four seasons of playing with Parma, the work paid off as the club won the UEFA Champions League Cup. In 1999, Parma won the Italian Super Cup and Coppa Italia, widening the Club’s momentum. After 6 seasons and 168 appearances with Parma, Buffon’s aggressiveness and catlike instincts as a goalkeeper were evident, especially to Juventus. Buffon decided to transfer to that Serie A powerhouse for €52 million Euro, the most ever for a goalkeeper transfer.

Juventus (Bianconeri) In 2001 Buffon began his career with the well known and well skilled club, where he remains today. His play with Juventus escalated him to worldwide recognition, his skills were unmatched by any goalkeeper. In 2002 and 2003 Juventus won Serie A, taking the scudetto as best team in Italy. In 2003 he was the recipient of the UEFA Best Goalkeeper award, and even more definitive, Most Valuable Player award. To surpass these honours, Buffon was named one of the 125 greatest living footballers by none other than the legend, Pele. A couple of injuries seemed to create some speed bumps for Buffon. First a collision with Kaka, a Milan midfielder that resulted in a dislocated shoulder requiring surgery in August 2005 and another upon his return in November which left him on the bench until January 2006. May 2006 brought a slew of controversy when many Serie A players, including Buffon were accused of participating in illegal betting in Serie A matches against Parma. Buffon immediately allowed for interviewing by Turin magistrates the day after the implications were made. He denied betting and placing any wagers on Italian League games. A year after the ordeal in June 2007 the Calciopoli, the Italian courts, cleared all players of the charges. Many were pleased to hear that Buffon was not taken off the International team’s starting line up, and would be starting goalkeeper in the 2006 World Cup. Buffon was not punished individually but Juventus as a club, had to face consequences after they were charged for betting and game fixing. Buffon won two Scudettos with Juventus in 2005 an 2006, but as the best team in Serie A, they were forced to revoke their past two Scudettos. The Club was also bumped down to Serie B on July 14, 2006. The club was originally supposed to be deducted 30 points as well but after appeal it was reduced to 9 points. Many speculated whether Buffon, an amazing protector of the net, would transfer to another team, to continue a high level of competition. Rumors proved false when Buffon remained with Juventus and held strong in their new position in Serie B. He had also signed a contract to remain with Juventus until 2008, during his 2004 season, where he also took a paycut to ease the needs of Juventus’ finances. It was clear he was loyal to the club. Juventus won Serie B and were given the Cadetti promoting them back to their home, Serie A. It seemed that Buffon’s permanent residence would be Juventus after he signed a contract keeping him with the club until 2012. Juventus loved Buffon, and it was obvious by his consistency and willingness, he loved the club as well. He currently has 10 shutouts in the 2007-2008 season, and Juventus is third in Serie A, behind Roma and Inter Milan.

International Football - Italy

Buffon joined the national team in 1996 as a back up goalkeeper in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He made his appearance two years later at 19 years old, in the 1998 FIFA World Cup play off match. The starting goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was injured prior to the match with Russia, so Buffon stepped up. This appearance would spur a string of international caps that would make Italy an enemy on the field, because Buffon was a wall in the goal. Pagliuca was starting goalkeeper in the 1998 World Cup, although Buffon was called up as back up keeper, he never took the field. He was part of the Euro Cup 2004 as well as the FIFA World Cup 2002. The FIFA World Cup 2006 [oleole.com link to FIFA world cup] proved to be the glory tournament for Buffon. He was able to hold seven shutouts and 453 minutes of scoreless victory. The net behind Buffon always seemed empty, it was very difficult to put a dribble past Italy’s strong central defender Buffon, and further past Buffon’s masterful dives. There were only two goals scored on Buffon in the cup, an own goal by Cristian Zaccardo during a defensive play against the USA and a penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane [oleole.com link to Zidane] in the final against France. The final match, versus France ended scoreless, leading into a France-Italy penalty kick tie breaker. Buffon, as well as French goalkeeper Barthez were unable to stop any of the penalty kicks. After an extensive and highly competitive match, Italy won the 2006 World Cup. French player David Trezeguet missed his penalty shot, and with Italy scoring each of their five shots, they emerged as the best team in the world. Buffon was the recipient of the Yashin award, for best goalkeeper of the tournament, well deserved as Buffon’s quick hands led Italy to victory.

His performance led to him being among the 30 nominees for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award and among the 50 for the European Footballer of the year award.

International Goals

Date	Team	Competition	Goals Scored

Awards and Honours

Parma
1997 Serie A Runner Up
1999 Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup, Italian Super Cup

Juventus
2002 Serie A Scudetto, Italian Super Cup, Coppa Italia</br > 2003 Serie A Scudetto,Italian Super Cup,UEFA Cup Champions
2004 Coppa Italia
2005 Italian Super Cup

National Team (Italy)
FIFA World Cup 2006 Champions
1994-1996 Euro Under 21 Football Championship

Personal Awards

1999
Bravo Award
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper

2001
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper

2002
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper

2003
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper
UEFA Cup Most Valuable Player
UEFA Cup Best Goalkeeper
IFFHS Best Goalkeeper
Onz d’Or Best Goalkeeper

2004
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper
FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers
IFFHS Best Goalkeeper

2005
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper
FIFPro World XI (World’s Best players)

2006
Oscar del Calcio-Best Goalkeeper
Yashin Award
European Silver Ball Footballer of the year
IFFHS Best Goalkeeper
Onze d’or Best Goalkeeper
FIFPro World XI (World’s Best players)

2007
FIFPro World XI (World’s Best players)
IFFHS Best Goalkeeper

Career Statistics

Team	Season	Domestic League			Domestic Cups			International			Total
Team	Season	M	G	A	M	G	A	M	G	A	M	G	A
Parma	1995-96	9
	1996-97	27
	1997-98	32
	1999-00	34
	2000-01	32
Juventus	2001-02	34
	2002-03	32
	2003-04	32
	2004-05	37
	2005-06	19
	2006-07	36
Total		324

M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists

Personal Info

Buffon may have been greatly influenced in his drive to become an international soccer star by his grandfather’s cousin Lorenzo Buffon. Lorenzo was a goalkeeping idol in Italy, who played for the Italian National Team and Inter Milan in the 1950’s and 60’s. Buffon has been dating Alena Seredova, a Czech model for many years, and they are engaged presently. Together they celebrated their first child, a son Louis Thomas on December 28, 2007. They are often the target of paparazzi and the public, as they are a hot couple in the Italian scene. Buffon’s name in Italian can be seen as Joker or Laughing. He has gained celebrity status in Italy and International soccer. He does enjoy heading back to his hometown of Carrara where his family lives. He loves Carbonara pasta and red wine from Tuscany.