2006 WorldCup Winners: He Conceded Only Two Goals In The Entire Tournament.

Gianluigi Buffon, the Italian professional goalkeeper conceded only two goals at the 2006 World Cup and was instrumental for Italy to emerge the crowning champions. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances.

During the 2006 World Cup finals, Buffon was in excellent form, setting a World Cup record by conceding just two goals in seven matches (The first was an own goal by Italian player Cristian Zaccardo in the group stage game against USA while the second was a spot kick by Zinedine Zidane (penalty) in the final match). Buffon kept five clean sheets. In addition, he posted a 453 – minute scoreless streak, only 64 minutes short of compatriot Walter Zenga’s all-time unbeaten record from the 1990 World Cup. Buffon was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper (the Yashin Award) producing 40 saves, and was elected to the Team of the Tournament.

Buffon was the runner – up for the Ballon d’Or in 2006, and was elected part of the FIFPro World11 three times. He was the first ever goalkeeper to win the Golden Foot Award, and was also named the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper a record five times (alongside Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer) with several other awards; he would go on to be named the best goalkeeper of the 21st century, of the past 25 years and of the decade by the same organisation 

He currently plays for Parma and is the only active player from that World Cup winning squad.

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