Blasphemous Buffon is still one of the best in the world

Birthday boy (still a boy) Gianluigi Buffon is 43 years old but, according to his boss Andrea Pirlo, he still trains like a youngster. Even though he’s no longer Juve’s first-choice goalkeeper, he can still make headlines – for all kinds of reasons.

Buffon played in Juventus’ Coppa Italia quarter-final win over SPAL on the eve of his 43rd birthday and kept a clean sheet. This prompted his former team-mate and current boss Andrea Pirlo to heap praise on the living legend of Italian football.

“It’s a pleasure to have Gigi in the squad. It’s a pleasure to watch him train like a young player. It’s so important for any footballer. When you’ve got that kind of energy, you can continue to play for a long time. If you don’t have that kind of drive inside you, you really should find something else to do.”

Buffon and Pirlo in 2006 (©Reuters)

Pirlo and Buffon used to star for Italy together, famously winning the 2006 World Cup together. There shared the dressing room at Juventus as well as the Turin club dominated Serie A in the past decade. But now Pirlo is on the sidelines while Buffon still does what he has been doing in the past 26 seasons. It’s a bit surreal for the legendary playmaker.

“When Gigi and I played together, I didn’t expect him to have such a long career. He’s had a serious back injury ten years ago, but he’s done everything to recover and he continued to look after his body and work hard every day. He will play more before the end of the season because he’s shown that he’s still one of the best goalkeepers in the world. I hope that the fans will enjoy his performances in years to come.”

Despite spending most of the season as backup to the Polish custodian Wojciech Szczesny, Buffon is hoping to extend his current contract for another and to remain with the Old Lady until June 2022.

It’s not all football and records for the former Parma and PSG shot-stopper, though. Buffon will receive a one-match ban because of BLASPHEMY. He was charged because he shouted Porco Dio at a team-mate during Juventus’ match at Parma in December. The curse roughly translates to “God is a pig” and is used as an exasperated exclamation. The laws in Italy are very strict about these matters so the birthday boy will be forced to apologize and sit one match out.

Happy birthday, Gianluigi. And watch your mouth!

COPPA ITALIA QUARTER FINAL

Tuesday

Inter - Milan 2-1

/Lukaku 71 pen, Eriksen 90 - Ibrahimović 31/

Wednesday

Atalanta - Lazio 3-2

/Djimsiti 7, Malinovskyi 37, Miranchuk 57, Palomino 53 - Muriqi 17, Acerbi 34/

Juventus - SPAL 4-0

/Morata 16 pen, Frabotta 33, Kulusevski 78, Chiesa 90/

Thursday

23.00: (1.37) Napoli (5.10) Spezia (7.75)

*** odds are subject to change