Buffon: I want to add a few more caps
 |
| Getty Images |
Legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon hopes to stretch his impressive tally of caps for Italy past the 150 mark as he targets playing for several more seasons at the top level. Juventus 'keeper Buffon will reach the landmark when the Azzurri host Bulgaria in a UEFA EURO 2016 fixture that could edge Antonio Conte's men closer towards qualification for next summer's finals in France.
Buffon, who earned his first Italy cap in 1997 when he replaced Gianluca Pagliuca during a 1-1 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying draw away to Russia, remains Italy's undisputed number one goalkeeper after 18 years of loyal service. Despite the advancing years, the 37-year-old said he is not about to hang up his gloves just yet.
"I read somewhere that I'm aiming for 200 caps, but that's not an objective of mine," Buffon told reporters. "Obviously I want to add quite a few more, but how many I don't know. The nice thing about getting older is gaining the awareness and appreciating the value of what you're doing."
"Finding an adjective to describe 'Gigi' is very difficult."
Antonio Conte, Juventus coach.
Buffon's achievements over the years at club and international level have won him an army of fans around the world. Last season he was pivotal as Juventus won their fourth consecutive Italian Serie A title, their first league and Cup double in 20 years and reached the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in 12 years, only to be outclassed 3-1 by Barcelona. As a former teammate of Buffon in his playing days, then a coach of the 'keeper at Juventus during three title-winning seasons, Italy coach Conte said Buffon has few peers.
"Finding an adjective to describe 'Gigi' is very difficult," said Conte. "He's a great champion, finding one word to describe him wouldn't do him justice. He was my goalkeeper when I was a player, now he's my goalkeeper in my national team."
Conte, meanwhile, is set to make several changes to the starting line-up that dominated Malta on Thursday but could only win 1-0 thanks to Southampton striker Graziano Pelle's 69th minute opener. Italy could seal qualification with a win over Bulgaria on Sunday, although uncertainty over the disciplinary situation surrounding Croatia and the result of their away fixture against Norway in Oslo, is keeping Italy's fate in limbo.
Croatia and Italy sit top of Group H on 15 points, with Norway two points further behind in third place.