The bond between Gigi Buffon and the national team began well before his debut in Moscow in 1997: at the end of the 1991/92 season, he was selected amongst other youngsters for one of the first incarnations Under 15 national team, which was only officially established in the 2011/2012 season, and from which, federal technical coaches would start building the Under-16 national team for the following season.

Playing two trial matches, one in Inverness against Scotland and another in Belfast against Northern Ireland, Gianluigi Buffon, the goalkeeper born in 1978 and part of the Parma youth system, is in that group of youngsters. The following year he will enter the Under-16 squad on a permanent basis: though his official debut is dated 28 April 1993, in the final round of the European U16 Championships in Istanbul. Mauro Vladovich was beside him as secretary of the team right from the start, then moving to the Men’s national team in 1994, thus sharing his Azzurri years with Gigi.

Therefore, counting the youth squads, the history between Gigi and the Azzurri covers a period of 24 years, 10 months and 26 days, with his total number of appearances reaching 209 (with 261 call-ups). Considering that in 1993 the Under-16s was the youngest of the official national teams (since the Under-15 selection was made at the end of the season to facilitate the next Under-16 squad), Buffon has been part of every Azzurri team, from the Under-16s to 21s, stopping by at the Olympics and the Mediterranean Games as an Under-23, and heading right on up to the Men’s national team.

Also on his list of achievements wearing the Azzurri shirt: the 2006 World Cup and the 1996 European U21 Championship, as well as the 1997 Mediterranean Games; 2nd place at Euro 2012, at Euro Under-18 in 1995 and Euro Under-16 in 1993.

1993: the Under-16 European Championship and the Under-17 World Cup

He officially debuted for a national team in the 1992-1993 season: the Under 16s conquered the final rounds of the Under-16 European Championships in Turkey (only in 2000/01 did UEFA raise the age limit by one year).

On the flight to Istanbul, technicians Sergio Vatta and Romeo Benetti escorted the young Buffon from Parma, him being one-year underage. In the two matches against Scotland in March, he had remained on the bench, as well as on the first day of the tournament in Turkey (26 April, Italy 2-1 Portugal): the start was given to goalkeeper Marco Caterini, born in 1977 in Rome.

Two days later, however, on 28 April, Gianluigi Buffon protected Italy's goal in the match against Russia. The game ended 2-1 and the team was in full swing for the final.

23 April 1993

On the day of his debut in the national team, the Ciampi government takes office in Italy, during the election-filled days of "Tangentopoli"; the European Union does not yet formally exist, and will arrive only on November 1st of the same year.

 

From that day, the hierarchy changed: Buffon started against France (1-1) and the quarter-finals against Spain consolidated his starting position. It ended 0-0 and went to penalties: Totti hit the crossbar, and the Spaniards had the match point, but Gigi saved the decisive penalty from Castro, then he went up to the penalty spot and scored the 5-4, rounding it all off by blocking Ruiz's shot. The game ended 6-5.

In the semi-final against Czechoslovakia, during their last moments in football (in January the state had split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but the national teams continued to play as Czechoslovakia until the end of the season) it went to penalties again (0-0): Gigi saved 3 shots (from Kopunel, Ruman and Rada, Jankulovsky scored, thus also redeeming his earlier mistake from the penalty spot. After the seventh round of shots, it finished 5-4. On 8 May 1993, the Azzurri lost 1-0 to Poland in the final.

After two months, 15-year-old Buffon's summer continues in Kobe, Japan, for the Under-17 World Cup: a less brilliant experience this time with 3 appearances against Mexico, Ghana (double knock-out), and Japan (0-0).

It was a sign of things to come, 19 years later he returned to the same neck of the woods (Sapporo, Kashima, Oita) for the 2002 World Cup, which came to an even more bitter end: though the elimination in the Round of 16 took place in Daejeon, South Korea.

1994: U18 Euros

Buffon began 93/94 with the Under-16s in a 2-0 loss to England in Pula; Jamie Carragher for the goal and would go on to play over 500 games for Liverpool.

A year later, he won the International Tournament in Dubai with the Under-19s, beating Germany 4-0 in the final. Antonio Rocco and Sergio Vatta brought him up to the U18s - in a group including Totti, Ambrosini and Baronio, as well as Ventola and Pirlo – for the finals of the European Championship in Greece in July.

This time, however, Buffon acted as a back-up to Morgan De Sanctis, who would go on to play back-up to Gigi in the first team from 2005 to 2013. He was an unused substitute against Greece, Norway and Slovakia as Italy reached the final. He did come on against Spain in Katerini, halfway between Thessaloniki and Mount Olympus, playing the last 23 minutes in the 4-1 defeat for the Azzurrini.

1995-96: from the Under-21s to the Olympics

Gigi was still in the Under-16s in January 1995, but by the end of the year, he would play his first game for the U21s. He made his debut at 17 years and 11 months old in a 2-0 win over Bulgaria in Ferrara, having already made his Serie A debut for Parma at San Siro against AC Milan and then played against Juve at the Tardini a week later (his first goal conceded, to Ciro Ferrara).

He stayed with the Under-21s until October 1997, making 11 appearances. He was part of the Azzurrini side that won the Euros in 1996, though didn’t play a single minute before Angelo Pagotto was the starter.

That same summer, he jetted off to Atalanta for the 1996 Olympic Games, in which Italy got knocked out in the first round. Here too he was back-up, this time to Gianluca Pagliuca.

A year later, in the summer of 1997, he participated in the Mediterranean Games, hosted by Italy in Bari. A representative Under-23 side won the tournament, beating Türkiyye in the final after winning a group including Albania and Yugoslavia and then beating Spain in the semis.

The return: Buffon for Italy 1993 - 2018

FULL INTERNATIONAL

MATCH DETAILS

• Caps: 176
• Wins: 85
• Draws: 56
• Defeats: 35
• Points: 311
• Points per game: 1.76
• Penalties saved: 5/15
• Minutes player: 15,288
• Average minutes: 86’
• Goals conceded: 146
• Goals conceded per game: 0.82
• Red cards: 0

COMPETITION APPEARANCE BREAKDOWN

• Friendlies: 57
• Euro Qual.: 41
• Euros: 17
• World Cup Qual.: 39
• World Cup: 14
• Confederations Cup: 8

MATCH STATUS

• Full matches: 155
• Starts: 172
• Substitute appearances: 4 

YOUTH LEVEL

• UNDER 23 (96/97): 4
• UNDER 21 (95/96 and 97/98): 11
• UNDER 17 (‘94/95): 6
• OLIMPICS (95/96): 0
• UNDER 18 (‘94/95): 4
• UNDER 16 (’92/93 and 93/94: 8

TOTAL YOUTH TEAM APPS. (U23 / U16): 33 gare / 15v, 6n, 10p

TOTAL 1993 / 2018: 209 apps.

 

HONOURS:

World Cup 2006, U21 Euros (95-96), Mediterranean Games ’97.

2nd place Euro 2012, Under 18 Euros (94/95)