BUFFON SAYS CAMEROONIAN LEGEND INSPIRED HIS GOALKEEPING

At the age of 38, Gianluigi Buffon has achieved yet another milestone in his legendary career, beating the Serie A goalkeeping record for the longest run without conceding a goal.

Thomas Nkono

Needing to go unbeaten in only the first three minutes of Sunday’s Turin derby against Torino to eclipse the previous record of 929 minutes – set by Sebastiano Rossi back in the 1990s – the Juventus keeper did just that. A 2006 world champion with Italy, Buffon eventually extended his run to 974 minutes before being beaten from the spot by Andrea Belotti in the second half, not that it stopped Juve from running out comfortable 4-1 winners.

Gianluigi Buffon

According to Buffon, the inspiration for his stellar career has been none other than former Cameroon keeper Thomas Nkono, whose exploits at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy™ encouraged the young Buffon to try his hand between the posts.