Gianluigi Buffon – 573 Serie A Matches**
(Parma, Juventus)
He exuding confidence, charisma and undeniable talent. We remember 19 November, 1995, when a 17-year-old Gianluigi Buffon burst onto the scene keeping eventual Scudetto winners AC Milan to a clean sheet, and we remember 21 January, 2016, condemning Lazio to a scoreless Coppa Italia quarter-final. Though a fairly vague and inconsequential statistic on its own, it serves to represent the assurance and consistency that is synonymous with Italy’s number one.
For both club and country, the sight of the custodian marshaling a back four is one that is as admirable as it is efficient. Even last year at the age of 36, Buffon remarkably kept Juventus’ defensive record to 20 goals in 38 league matches, the best in Europe’s top five leagues.
Buffon boats most Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year awards with 10, the most expensive goalkeeper of all time, most number of clean sheets for both Gli Azzurri (62) and in the Serie A (257) as well as a World Cup and a UEFA Cup.
One could argue he could run out of breath just naming all his individual honours, but we have all seen him belt out the nation anthem; we know that is simply not true.
Why he never left: “I’ve matured… what keeps me at the top level is the fact that I love the competition and this is an essential aspect of my work.” (2012)
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