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Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will make the 1,000th appearance of his professional career today in World Cup qualifier against Albania according to reports from BBC.
Today’s World Cup match will be his 168th game for his country, making him the most capped European player – above Spain’s Iker Casillas and Latvian Vitalijs Astafjevs.
The 39-year-old Juventus goal tender will also need another 17 caps to break the 184-appearance world record of former Egypt midfielder Ahmed Hassan.
“It’s a huge pleasure,” the 39-year-old Juventus captain said during a press conference.
Buffon has conceded 799 goals in his 999 games for club and country so far.
He made his professional debut for Parma in 1995 at the age of 17 and his international debut two years later. He has played 612 times for Juventus since joining them in 2001.
He won the World Cup in 2006, and has said he plans to retire after next year’s tournament in Russia.
And he joked that he plans to go out as Zinedine Zidane did for France in the 2006 final – with a red card.
“Maybe, I’ll do a Zidane and headbutt someone on the pitch.”
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