Gianluigi Buffon is widely regarded as one of Italy’s best-ever goalkeepers. He’s enjoyed massive success with Juventus and the Italian national team. How much do you know about the legendary player?
There are some fascinating facts that we’re about to reveal about the Juve goalkeeper. Not just his love for poker but the sporting success other family members have had.
Whereas Gianluigi threw a football, hoping to start another attack, his mother spent her youth throwing something entirely different. Maria Stella Masocco enjoyed success both as a discus thrower and shot putter.
Her success was achieved in the 1970s with two Italian shot put titles in 1971 and 1972. The talented athlete also broke the national record for the discus. Perhaps that’s why her son is so good at throwing the ball to his teammates. His love for athletics was shown when getting engaged to Vincenza Cali, a top sprinter. The couple didn’t get married, however.
The family’s sporting successes had already started with his uncle Dante Masocco, a top-level basketball player. His father also showed talent as a shot putter, while his elder sisters branched off into yet another sport. Guendalina and Veronica Buffon were both professional volleyball players.
While Buffon has become one of the best Italian footballers of all time, he’s also had some success playing poker. Buffon loved playing poker with friends and tried the game out on the internet when online poker sites became all the rage.
The ability to be able to play online has changed the game of poker. Buffon certainly took advantage of it, and those long hours that footballers often have to themselves were used to play poker and improve his playing skills.
Poker can be like football, especially if you are a goalkeeper. You might not be involved in the action for a long time, but you need to keep concentrating just in case you are required.
He hasn’t just been prepared to settle for playing with his friends. Buffon began participating in online tournaments and has had great success. Look for the name ‘Gigi Buffon,’ and you’ll know exactly who you’re playing against. When he eventually retires, a second career as a poker player may well be on the cards.
Although Buffon is famous for his goalkeeping skills, he didn’t start in that position. At one time, he was a midfielder, but that wasn’t to last. Why? Well, he didn’t fancy all the running that a midfielder has to do, so he found himself much more comfortable in goal instead. The most running he did after making that decision was a lap of honour after winning another trophy.
There was a time when he did find himself further up the pitch. Footballers such as Kevin Keegan, Chris Waddle and Glen Hoddle have all also had some success in the music industry. Buffon isn’t known for singing but has appeared in a music video.
Three years ago, he appeared in a video shot to promote the song “Ti saprò aspettare” by Biagio Antonacci. Buffon took on the role of the coach of a children’s football team. Antonacci coached the opponents, and it all ended in a bit of a mystery.
Rather than trying to save goals, he was attempting to score one. He took a shot against Antonacci, who was the other team’s goalkeeper, but then the video just stopped. Did the goalkeeper become a goalscorer? We’ll never know.
It’s probably fair to say that Gianluigi Buffon is a big fan of the American rock group Van Halen. He loved them so much that he named one son after their singer David Lee Roth. Buffon was a massive fan of Thomas N’Kono, who played in goal for Cameroon in terms of his favourite sportsmen. The Italian goalkeeper gave another of his children the name Louis Thomas to show his respect for his fellow goalkeeper.
Top footballers don’t just profit from playing for their club and country. There’s lots of money to be made from sponsorship and film advertisements. That was the case in 2002 when he was featured in a Pepsi advertisement filmed for the upcoming World Cup.
He was in good company with other players, including David Beckham and Roberto Carlos taking on a team of sumo wrestlers. They proved to be much more agile than expected, and not even the great Buffon could stop the sumo wrestlers from scoring.
