Buffon"The great wall".

Gianluigi Buffon.

born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He captains both Serie A club Juventus and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded by players, pundits and managers to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, and, by some, to be the greatest ever.Buffon is one of only eighteen players to have made at least 1,000 professional career appearances; with 168 international caps, Buffon is also the most capped player in the history of the Italian national team, the joint fifth-most capped male international footballer of all time, alongside Iván Hurtado, and the most capped European international player ever. Buffon is known for his "outstanding shot-stopping" and for being "a vocal organizer of the defence and a key dressing room personality".He is currently the most expensive goalkeeper in history, following his €53 million transfer from Parma to Juventus in 2001. Buffon holds the record for the most clean sheets in Serie A, and with the Italy national team; he also holds the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A history: over 12 league matches, he went unbeaten for 974 consecutive minutes during the 2015–16 season, as well as having achieved the most consecutive clean sheets (10) in Serie A in that same season.
At club level, Buffon's professional career began with Parma in 1995, where he made his Serie A debut, and was soon promoted to the role of starting goalkeeper, earning a reputation as one of the most promising young goalkeepers in Italy; during his time with the club, he won the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup and the Supercoppa Italiana, all in 1999. After joining Juventus in 2001, Buffon immediately won Serie A titles in both of his first two seasons at the club, and established himself as one of the best players in the world in his position. After winning two more consecutive league titles in 2005 and 2006, the club were later stripped of these titles and relegated due to their involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal. Despite rumours of his departure, Buffon remained with Juventus, contributing to the club's Serie B title and promotion back to Serie A in 2007. Following several trophyless seasons, Buffon later played a key role in Juventus' resurgence, which saw the club win an Italian record of six consecutive league titles between 2011 and 2017; he also inherited the captain's armband following the departure of Alessandro Del Piero in 2012. In total, he has won eight Serie A titles, three Coppa Italia titles, and five Supercoppa Italiana titles with Juventus.

With the Italy national team, Buffon has been called up for an international record of five FIFA World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) since making hisdebut in 1997, featuring in four of them as Italy's starting goalkeeper (he was an unused substitute in 1998). He was the starting goalkeeper of the Italian team that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which saw him keep a record five clean sheets, and concede only two goals, neither of which were in open play. He has also represented Italy at four European Championships, at the 1996 Olympics, and at two FIFA Confederations Cups, winning a bronze medal in the 2013 edition of the tournament.

Buffon has also won numerous, prestigious individual and team awards. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004. He has been named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record eleven times. Buffon was the winner of the 2006 Yashin Award following Italy's World Cup victory, in which he was also elected to be part of the Team of the Tournament; an honour which he also received after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2008 European Championships, and 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 after reaching the Champions League final; he also won the award for best Goalkeeper that year, and was voted into the UEFA Team of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2016. In 2006, Buffon was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and was elected to be part of the FIFPro World XI, an honour which he also achieved in 2007. After reaching the 2015 Champions League final, he was named to the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, and placed fourth in the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. He has been named the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper four times (second only to Iker Casillas, with five awards) and was also named the best goalkeeper of the 21st century, of the past 25 years, and of the decade, by the same organisation. In 2016, he became the first goalkeeper ever to win the Golden Foot Award, which pertains to both personality and playing ability.
Since his emergence as a precocious talent in his youth, Buffon has been renowned for his consistent performances throughout his career, and has received praise from managers, players, as well as both present and former goalkeeping colleagues, for his concentration and calm composure under pressure, as well as his work-rate, and longevity.Regarded as one of the best players ever in his position, he is often considered to be the archetype of the modern goalkeeper. He has been described as "an agile, strong, and commanding shot-stopper, who is hugely experienced at the highest level" and "an accomplished and well respected keeper" with an "[e]xcellent positional sense, courage, power and class."Buffon has been praised for his athleticism, his "outstanding shot-stopping", his acrobatic dives, and his quick reflexes, as well as his ability to produce decisive saves,despite being a tall, large and physically imposing goalkeeper.Although he has at times been criticised for not being particularly adept at stopping penalties, he has also proven to be effective in this area, as demonstrated by his penalty-saving record.

"There have been some very good goalkeepers in my era, but Buffon is there for consistency. Most of the goalkeepers have had times when their form has not been so good, but Buffon has been at such a high level for so long".
In his prime, Buffon was a talented, complete, aggressive, and often instinctive goalkeeper, who was recognised for his speed, prowess, and anticipation when coming off his line in one on one situations, as well as his confidence, goalkeeping technique, reactions, and ability to get to ground quickly to collect, parry, or even challenge for the ball with his feet; when playing in teams that relied upon high defensive lines, he often functioned as a sweeper-keeper, frequently rushing out of his area to clear the ball or face opponents who had beaten the offside trap.He was also highly regarded for his handling, aerial ability, and command of the area; however, throughout his career, Buffon has occasionally been accused by pundits of being overly cautious and not always coming out to collect crosses, and for preferring to punch the ball out to his team-mates at times rather than holding on to it. Although not as adept with the ball at his feet as the newer generation of goalkeepers that emerged in his later career,Buffon also possesses good footwork, and reliable distribution and ball skills, which allow him to play the ball out from the back, and which occasionally led him to take on opponents in his youth, when put under pressure by on-running strikers.

In recent years, Buffon effectively adapted his style of goalkeeping to the physical effects of ageing, while also modifying his diet and training regime, and has developed into a less spectacular, but more efficient goalkeeper; despite the loss of some of his physical strength, explosiveness, speed and mobility, he has continued to excel at the highest level due to the consistency of his performances, as well as his positioning between the posts, tactical intelligence, decision-making, and his ability to read the game and organise his defence. In addition to his goalkeeping abilities, Buffon has been singled out for his charisma, strong mentality, discipline in training, vocal presence in goal, and leadership, and has been described as "a key dressing room personality."
PERSONAL LIFE.
Buffon married Czech model Alena Šeredová in June 2011, although they had been in a relationship together since 2005. They have two children, Louis Thomas (born in 2007 and named after Buffon's idol Thomas N'Kono)and David Lee (born in 2009). In May 2014, Buffon announced that he had separated from his wife after three years of marriage.He was soon romantically linked to Italian sports pundit, journalist and television host Ilaria D'Amico. In 2015, Buffon announced that the couple were expecting a child together. On 6 January 2016, the couple announced the birth of their son Leopoldo Mattia on Twitter earlier that evening.Prior to his relationship and marriage to Šeredová, Buffon had also previously been engaged to a sprinter from the Italy national athletics team, Vincenza Calì.

In 2013, Buffon claimed to have suffered with bouts of depression during the 2003–04 season, following Juventus' penalty shoot-out defeat in the 2003 Champions League final, and due to Juventus's negative performance that season. Buffon regularly visited a psychologist, but refused to take medication, and overcame his depression prior to Euro 2004.

Buffon the best keeper in the world.