Gianluigi Buffon

• 1. Introduction

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  Gianluigi Buffon was born on the 28th of January 1978 in Carrara, Tuscany, into a family that treated sport as a way of life. His mother was a discus thrower, his father a weightlifter, and both became physical education teachers after retiring from competition. His two sisters, Veronica and Guendalina, went on to play volleyball for Italy's national team. His maternal uncle represented Italy in basketball at Serie A1 level. Sport was not a choice in that household. It was an inheritance.

  What no one in Carrara could have predicted was that Buffon would one day be named by Pele in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players, win a World Cup, collect nine Serie A titles with a single club, and make over 1,100 professional appearances across a career that stretched from 1995 to 2023. He became the most capped goalkeeper in history and the most capped player Italy has ever produced.

  But the journey from a youth footballer playing as a midfielder at amateur club U.S.D. Canaletto Sepor to the most decorated goalkeeper of his generation was not a straight line. It ran through relegation, injury, controversy, missed finals, and a move at the age of 40 to Paris. The documentary ahead traces how Buffon built that career one decision, one save, and one record at a time.

• 2. Parma Years

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  Thomas N'Kono, the Cameroonian goalkeeper who played at the 1990 World Cup, was the reason Buffon stopped playing as a midfielder and started wearing gloves. When both of Parma's youth keepers were injured at once, Buffon was asked to step in because of his height and physical presence. He adapted quickly, and within two weeks he had been named the first-choice keeper of the Parma youth team.

  He made his Serie A debut for Parma on the 19th of November 1995, aged seventeen, under manager Nevio Scala. By the 1996-97 season he was the established starting goalkeeper, conceding just 17 goals in 27 appearances. That same season brought his European debut: a 2-0 defeat to Vitoria de Guimaraes on the 24th of September 1996 in the UEFA Cup.

  His nickname 'Superman' arrived in the 1997-98 season, when he saved a penalty from Inter striker Ronaldo. Buffon celebrated by pulling back his jersey to reveal a Superman T-shirt underneath. The name also reflected his athleticism, his aerial ability, and the impression that he could do things other keepers simply could not.

  By 1999 he had won three trophies with Parma in a single season: the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup, and the Supercoppa Italiana. He earned his first Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award and his first Ballon d'Or nomination that same year. He was twenty-one years old.

  He remained with Parma through two more seasons, twice finishing fourth in Serie A and twice reaching Coppa Italia finals. In the 2000-01 campaign he attracted controversy when he briefly switched from the number 1 shirt to the number 88, drawing accusations of neo-Nazi associations. Buffon denied any such intent, explaining that 88 represented 'four balls,' symbols of character and personal strength, connected to his need for those qualities after an injury before Euro 2000. He later changed to number 77 instead.

• 3. The Juventus Record

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  On the 3rd of July 2001, Buffon moved to Juventus for 100 billion lire, a world-record transfer fee for a goalkeeper. His father had convinced him that Turin was the place to win the Scudetto. He won it in his very first season, as Juventus conceded just 22 goals across 34 Serie A matches. He won it again the following year.

  The 2002-03 Champions League final in Manchester ended in heartbreak on penalties, with Milan taking the trophy. Buffon described a reaction save he made from a close-range Filippo Inzaghi header in that final as the most difficult save of his career, and documented it in his 2008 autobiography. That same season he became the only goalkeeper ever to win the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award, which no longer exists.

  A dislocated shoulder in August 2005, following a collision with Kaka during a preseason match, cost him months. Then came the Calciopoli scandal: on the 12th of May 2006, Buffon was among the players accused of involvement in illegal betting on Serie A matches. He admitted to placing bets on sporting events until the practice was banned for players in October 2005, but denied ever betting on Italian football. He was cleared of all charges in December 2006. When Juventus were subsequently relegated to Serie B, Buffon chose to stay.

  He played 37 matches in Serie B during the 2006-07 season as Juventus won the second-division title and returned to the top flight. His loyalty to the club during that period became one of the defining facts of his reputation.

  The 2011-12 season produced numbers that belonged in a different era. Buffon kept 21 clean sheets in a single Serie A campaign, conceded just 16 goals in 35 appearances, and recorded a save percentage of 82 percent, the highest of any goalkeeper in Europe's top five leagues that year. Juventus finished the season unbeaten.

  On the 11th of August 2012, Buffon lifted his first trophy as Juventus captain, following Alessandro Del Piero's departure, as Juventus defeated Napoli 4-2 in the Supercoppa Italiana. By the 2015-16 season he had extended the club's Serie A consecutive-title record to five, while setting a new all-time Italian league unbeaten record of 974 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. The streak was ended by Andrea Belotti, who beat him from the penalty spot in the 48th minute of a match against Torino on the 20th of March.

  On the 27th of November 2017, Buffon became the first goalkeeper ever to win the Serie A Footballer of the Year award. The same day he also won his twelfth Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award. On the 5th of December that year he equalled Iker Casillas by winning the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award for a record fifth time.

  His 17-year first spell at Juventus ended on the 19th of May 2018, when he was substituted off in the 64th minute of a 2-1 home win over Hellas Verona, receiving a standing ovation. On Twitter that day he wrote: 'Seventeen years in black and white officially end today. Seventeen years of friends, team-mates, tears, victories, defeats, trophies, words, anger, disappointments, happiness and many, many emotions.'

• 4. Champions League Heartbreak

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  Buffon reached three Champions League finals with Juventus. He lost all three.

  The first came in 2003, when Juventus fell to Milan on penalties in Manchester. Twelve years later, in 2015, Juventus were beaten 3-1 by Barcelona at Berlin's Olympiastadion. Buffon had made 39 saves across the entire tournament, the most of any goalkeeper in the competition that year, and kept six clean sheets, matching three other goalkeepers for the tournament lead.

  The third final came in 2017, when Juventus faced Real Madrid, the defending champions, in Cardiff. Juventus lost 4-1. It was the third Champions League final defeat for Buffon, which made him the player with the most Champions League final appearances without a winner's medal, alongside former Juventus teammates Paolo Montero and Alessio Tacchinardi.

  A year before that Cardiff final, during the 2016-17 semi-final against Monaco, Buffon had set a new personal best of 600 minutes without conceding in the Champions League. Kylian Mbappe's second-half goal ended that streak, but Juventus progressed to the final anyway.

  Perhaps the most painful exit came the following year, in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid. Juventus had held a 3-0 lead in the second leg away from home until stoppage time, when Buffon was sent off for dissent after referee Michael Oliver awarded a penalty. Wojciech Szczęsny came on, Cristiano Ronaldo converted the spot kick, and Juventus were out on aggregate. On the 11th of May, UEFA charged Buffon over post-match comments in which he said, in part, that the referee 'cannot have a heart in your chest, but a bag of rubbish.' He later apologised and received a three-match UEFA ban.

  Despite reaching the final on two separate occasions, Buffon was named to the Champions League Squad of the Season in both 2015 and 2017. The trophy itself remained permanently out of reach.

• 5. PSG and the Return

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  On the 6th of July 2018, five weeks after his farewell at Juventus, Buffon signed a one-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 40. His competitive debut in Paris came on the 4th of August, when he kept a clean sheet in a 4-0 win over Monaco in the Trophee des Champions.

  Manager Thomas Tuchel used Buffon in a rotation with Alphonse Areola throughout the season. On the 12th of February 2019, Buffon kept his 50th Champions League clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Manchester United away from home, becoming only the third goalkeeper in history to reach that mark, after Casillas and Edwin van der Sar. The return leg in Paris ended in a 3-1 defeat that sent United through on away goals, after Buffon spilled a long-range shot that allowed Romelu Lukaku to score.

  He departed PSG after one season, having won the Ligue 1 title, his tenth league title of his career and the most won by any Italian player.

  On the 4th of July 2019, Buffon returned to Juventus. He declined the number 1 shirt offered to him by Szczęsny and declined the captaincy offered by Giorgio Chiellini. He chose to wear number 77 instead, the same number he had worn at Parma in his final season before first joining Juventus in 2001.

  On the 4th of July 2020, he made his 648th Serie A appearance in a 4-1 home win over Torino, surpassing Paolo Maldini as the most capped player of all time in the competition. On the 8th of December 2020, Buffon kept a clean sheet against Barcelona's Lionel Messi, saving all seven of Messi's shots on target in a 3-0 win. The seven shots on target from Messi without scoring was the highest recorded by any player in the Champions League since the 2002-03 edition. That clean sheet made Buffon the first goalkeeper ever to record a Champions League clean sheet in four different decades.

• 6. Italy and the World Cup

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  Buffon made his debut for Italy's senior side on the 29th of October 1997 under Cesare Maldini, called in as an injury replacement for Gianluca Pagliuca during a 1998 World Cup qualification play-off against Russia in Moscow. At the age of 19, he became the youngest goalkeeper to feature for Italy since World War II. He came on in the 31st minute, made notable saves in snowy conditions including a stop from a Dmitri Alenichev shot, and Italy drew 1-1 to qualify for the upcoming World Cup 2-1 on aggregate.

  He was part of five World Cup squads: 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. In the 1998 edition he was an unused substitute. Before Euro 2000, he broke his hand attempting to stop John Carew's goal in a friendly against Norway and missed the tournament entirely. Francesco Toldo replaced him, and Italy reached the final.

  The 2006 World Cup, in Germany, became his defining tournament. Buffon set a World Cup record by conceding just two goals in seven matches. Neither came from open play: one was a Cristian Zaccardo own goal, the other a Zinedine Zidane penalty in the final. His scoreless streak reached 453 minutes, just 64 minutes short of compatriot Walter Zenga's all-time World Cup unbeaten record. Buffon kept five clean sheets, a tournament record, and in extra time of the final against France he made what he later described as the most important save of his career, stopping a header from Zidane. Italy won on penalties, with David Trezeguet's effort hitting the bottom of the crossbar. Buffon won the Yashin Award and was elected to the Team of the Tournament.

  After Fabio Cannavaro retired from international football, Buffon became Italy's captain, a role he held officially from 2010 onwards. He led Italy to the final of Euro 2012, where they were beaten 4-0 by Spain. At the 2013 Confederations Cup, he saved three penalties in the third-place shootout against Uruguay, including efforts from Diego Forlan, Juventus teammate Martin Caceres, and Walter Gargano, as Italy won the bronze medal.

  His international career ended painfully. Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and Buffon announced his international retirement in 2017. He reversed that decision to feature in friendlies the following year before confirming his retirement in May 2018. He finished with 176 caps, the most of any goalkeeper in history, and the most of any player ever to represent Italy.

• 7. The Final Chapter

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  On the 17th of June 2021, newly relegated Parma announced Buffon's return via a short video on the club's official Twitter account. He was 43 years old. It had been 20 years since he left the club for Juventus.

  On the 5th of February 2022, following a 0-0 draw against Benevento in Serie B, Buffon became the first goalkeeper in men's association football to keep 500 clean sheets across his career: 322 with Juventus, 92 with Parma, 9 with PSG, and 77 with Italy.

  Parma announced a contract extension for Buffon in February 2022 that would have kept him playing until the age of 46. But on the 2nd of August 2023, at 45, he announced his retirement from professional football after a 28-year playing career. His final appearance had come on the 30th of May 2023, in the first leg of the Serie B promotion play-off semi-finals. Parma led 2-0 at half-time against Cagliari before losing 3-2. Buffon went off injured at the break and was ruled out of the second leg.

  The record that will likely stand longest is not the World Cup clean sheets or the nine Serie A titles, but the 500 career clean sheets, a number no goalkeeper in men's professional football had reached before him.