Gianluigi Buffon was an Italian soccer player.
Gianluigi `` Gigi '' Buffon ( [ ˈdʒiːdʒi bufˈfɔn ] , Ufficiale OMRI ; born 28 January 1978 ) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper . Buffon is one of only eighteen players to have made at least 1,000 professional career appearances ; with 168 international caps , Buffon is also the most capped player in the history of the Italian national team , the joint fifth-most capped male international footballer of all time , alongside Iván Hurtado , and the most capped European international player ever . Buffon holds the record for the most clean sheets in Serie A , and with the Italy national team ; he also holds the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A history : over 12 league matches , he went unbeaten for 974 consecutive minutes during the 2015 -- 16 season , as well as having achieved the most consecutive clean sheets ( 10 ) in Serie A in that same season . The Italian national football team ( Nazionale di calcio italiana ) represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation ( FIGC ) , the governing body for football in Italy .