Gianluigi Buffon - International Career

International Career

Buffon was a member of Italy's 1996 UEFA under-21 championship winning squad. The squad also contained Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti, who ten years later would, along with Buffon, be members of Italy's 2006 FIFA World Cup winning team. He was also selected as the backup goalkeeper for Italy's 1996 Olympic team. However, Italy did not qualify for the second round, losing their opening two matches to Mexico and Ghana.

Buffon was awarded his first cap for Italy's senior team under Cesare Maldini on 29 October 1997, at the age of nineteen, as an injury replacement for Gianluca Pagliuca during the first leg of the 1998 World Cup qualification play-off against Russia played in Moscow. He was a member of the squad for the 1998 World Cup finals, but did not play a single game as Pagliuca remained first choice.

Buffon became the first choice goalkeeper during the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign and was due to start in goal during the finals under manager and former Italy goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff, but he broke his hand in a warm up match against Norway, just a few days before Italy's opening match against Turkey. His starting place was taken by backup goalkeeper Francesco Toldo and Christian Abbiati was called up as a replacement third keeper, with Francesco Antonioli being promoted to second keeper.

Toldo's impressive performances at Euro 2000, which included a match winning performance in the semi-final, meant that he retained his place in the team for the beginning of Italy's 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign. However, Buffon regained the goalkeeping spot for the fourth match of the qualification series, away to Romania, and was the starting goalkeeper for the remaining four matches under Giovanni Trapattoni as Italy qualified with an unbeaten record.

Buffon played every minute of Italy's 2002 World Cup campaign, keeping a clean-sheet in the opening match against Ecuador, and saving a controversial penalty against co-hosts South Korea in the Round of 16, which was not enough to stop the under-performing side from being eliminated by a golden goal in extra time. He also featured in every match in 2004 European Championships, keeping a clean-sheet against Denmark, though Italy, despite not losing a match, once again underperformed, and were eliminated in the first round on direct encounters following a three way 5 point tie with Sweden and Denmark.

Buffon was once again the first choice goalkeeper under his former Juventus coach, and Trapattoni's replacement, Marcello Lippi, as Italy finished first in their 2006 World Cup Qualifying group.

During the 2006 World Cup finals, Buffon was in stunning form, as he conceded a World Cup record two goals and kept five clean sheets, in addition to a 453-minute scoreless streak. The only goals he conceded were not in open play; an own goal by teammate Cristian Zaccardo after a free-kick against the United States and a controversial Zinedine Zidane penalty in the final against France. Buffon made an important save in extra time on a header from eventual Golden Ball winner Zinedine Zidane. The match ended 1–1 after extra-time and was followed by a penalty shootout in which neither Buffon nor Fabien Barthez saved a spot kick. The lone miss was David Trezeguet's effort which hit the bottom of the crossbar and failed to cross the line, enabling Italy's Fabio Grosso to seal the victory for Italy. Buffon received the Yashin Award for his accomplishments throughout the competition and was elected to be part of the Team of the Tournament. Buffon recorded five clean sheets in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and has a career total of six. Buffon also finished second to compatriot Cannavaro in the 2006 Ballon d'Or and 8th in the FIFA World Player of the Year for his performances that season and was selected to be the goalkeeper for the 2006 FIFPro World XI.

Buffon was named Italy captain under Donadoni for Euro 2008 after incumbent Fabio Cannavaro was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. In the second game of the group stage against Romania on 13 June, he saved an 81st minute penalty from Adrian Mutu as the match ended 1–1 to keep Italy's hopes alive. Buffon kept a clean sheet against France in the final group game. Italy were eliminated in the quarter-finals nine days later, when a 0-0 draw after extra-time led to a 4–2 penalty shootout loss to Spain in which Buffon saved one penalty. Buffon was elected to be part of the team of the tournament.

Upon Lippi's return, Buffon was confirmed as the starting keeper. He earned his 100th cap on 14 November 2009 in a friendly match against the Netherlands. He was a key player in Italy's World Cup Qualifying campaign as they finished top of their group, undefeated.

In the 2010 World Cup, Buffon was replaced at half-time in Italy's 1–1 draw in their opening group stage match against Paraguay after he had a problem with his sciatic nerve, and did not play again in the tournament, being substituted by his deputy Federico Marchetti. Italy disappointed and failed to win a match. They were eliminated from their group finishing last.

After the international retirement of Cannavaro, Buffon became the new captain of the national team under the new manager Cesare Prandelli. On 9 February 2011, after recovering from a back injury, Buffon played his first game as official captain in the friendly match against Germany played in Dortmund. On 15 November 2011, in a friendly match against Uruguay, Buffon surpassed Dino Zoff's number of caps for Italy (112), putting him behind only the retired former Italy captains Fabio Cannavaro and Paolo Maldini. He was subsequently selected as Italy's starting goalkeeper and captain for Euro 2012 after leading Italy as captain to qualify for the tournament undefeated in their group and in official competitive matches, only having conceded 2 goals.

At UEFA Euro 2012 Buffon acted as captain during the entire tournament. He kept a clean-sheet against Ireland in the third group-stage match, and against England, saving a crucial penalty from Ashley Cole in the quarterfinal shootout, in which he was elected man of the match. In the semi-final match against Germany, Buffon made several important saves, only being beaten by a penalty by Mesut Özil in the 92nd minute. Italy won the match 2-1 and advanced to the final against defending champions Spain, with whom Italy had drawn 1–1 in the opening group stage match, only having conceded 3 goals. The semifinal victory automatically qualified them for the 2013 Confederations Cup regardless of the result in the final, since Spain had previously won the 2010 World Cup. Italy were beaten 4–0 in the final as Spain claimed a record third consecutive major trophy, and their second consecutive European Championship title. Buffon was once again chosen to be part of the team of the tournament for his performances.