Gianluigi Buffon

Who is Gianluigi Buffon?

Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon, Ufficiale OMRI, is an Italian goalkeeper who plays for and captains both Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. Buffon is the record appearance holder for the Italian national football team, and he is widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is known for his "outstanding shot-stopping" and for being "a vocal organizer of the defence and a key dressing room personality."

Buffon was declared by Pelé to be one of the 125 greatest living footballers in the world. He has been named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record nine times and was the winner of the 2006 Yashin Award following Italy's World Cup victory, in which Buffon was also elected to be part of the Team of the Tournament; an honour which he also received after reaching the final of the 2012 European Championships. Buffon is the only goalkeeper to have won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year Award, which he won in 2003; he also won the award for best Goalkeeper that year and was voted into the UEFA Team of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2006. In 2006, Buffon was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and was elected to be part of the FIFPro World XI in 2006 and 2007.