Today is the birthday of the greatest Italian goalkeeper in history! Gianluigi Buffon, born in Carrara (Tuscany) on January 28, 1978, historic number 1 of Juve and the national team. Let's find out about his career, from the beginnings in Parma to the present in France.
The beginnings
Buffon began his professional career in Parma, where thanks to the injury of the starting goalkeeper, he made his Serie A debut at a very young age, on November 19, 1995, against Milan. It was immediately clear that this little boy was gifted with extraordinary talent, so much so that the following year he was immediately the holder of records in Parma. Parma, in fact, finished second in the league and also won the Coppa Italia, the Italian Super Cup and the prestigious UEFA Cup. All this with a 19-year-old starter in the role considered the most difficult in football. After the Parma exploit, Buffon was bought by Juventus for a total of about 100 billion Lire, making him the most expensive player in the history of the club, as well as the highest paid goalkeeper in the world. Records only recently broken by Higuain and Alisson.
Juventus
After a start with some mistakes, Buffon begins an incredible growth. Year after year, the Juventus goal had only one owner. Gigi wins the Scudetto in the first year in black and white. Scudetto that will go down in history for overtaking Inter on the last day, that famous May 5th. History repeats itself the following year, up to two other league titles in 2005 and 2006. Just in 2006 Juve was relegated to Serie B after Calciopoli, putting Buffon at a crossroads. He chose to remain loyal to his team also in Serie B, becoming even more an idol of the fans. After a year in Serie B and a few years of readjustment, Juve returned to win the Scudetto in 2012, obviously, always with Buffon in goal. From then on, the great Juve's ride began first of Conte and then of Allegri. After 7 league titles in a row, Buffon decides to leave Juventus, according to many to go to an easier league as many do at the end of their career, and instead…
The PSG
After weeks of uncertainty, the bombshell arrives: Buffon at PSG. The great Gigi has chosen to stay in Europe, ignoring the American and Chinese sirens, probably to win the last thing he still misses: the Champions League. PSG is in fact one of the favorites for the final victory, which would be the right conclusion to the career of the strongest goalkeeper ever.
The Nazionale
Obviously, Buffon almost always had the starting position with the Italy shirt. Shirt with which he faced many disappointments, such as the European final lost against Spain in 2012 or the freshest failure to qualify for the World Cup against Sweden in 2018. World Cup which by the way would have been Gigi's last. But despite everything, it is with the blue shirt that Buffon reached his footballing glory. The 2006 World Cup victory will remain forever in the memories of all Italians, like Gigi's saves against Podolski in the semifinals and Zidane in the final. Fundamental saves for the final victory of the Azzurri. The awards came from all over the world for Buffon, so much so that he finished second in the classification of the golden ball, second only to his teammate, Cannavaro.
It is not possible to tell with an article what Gigi Buffon was, so we advise you to look at this one video to get an idea. Obviously we wish Buffon a happy birthday and a wonderful career finale, perhaps raising that much-sought-after cup!
