Lorenzo Buffon

Lorenzo Buffon

Buffon and his then-wife Edy Campagnoli, 1958
Personal information
Date of birth (1929-12-19) 19 December 1929
Place of birth Majano, Italy
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1948–1949 Portogruaro 34 (0)
1949–1959 Milan 277 (0)
1959–1960 Genoa 20 (0)
1960–1963 Internazionale 79 (0)
1963–1964 Fiorentina 1 (0)
1964–1965 Ivrea 11 (0)
National team
1958–1962  Italy 15 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Lorenzo Buffon (born 19 December 1929 in Majano, Friuli) is an Italian former football goalkeeper. Throughout his career, he played 277 times for Italian club A.C. Milan, and also later played for their city rivals Internazionale, as well as other Italian clubs, winning five Serie A titles. At international he was capped for the Italian international side on 15 occasions, representing his country at the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

Buffon is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and as one of Italy's greatest ever goalkeepers.[1] Alongside the legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, he was notably chosen to represent the FIFA All-Star squad during the 1960s.[2]

Club career

Overall, Buffon played 15 seasons (365 games) in the Serie A for A.C. Milan (1949–59), Genoa C.F.C. (1959–60), F.C. Internazionale Milano (1960–63), and ACF Fiorentina (1963–64). He began his career with Portogruaro in 1948 before moving to Milan the following season. With Milan, he played 277 games, and gained international prominence, achieving great success, as he won four Serie A titles, and two Latin Cups, despite competition for a place in the starting line-up with Narciso Soldan. With Milan, Buffon also notably reached the final of the 1957–58 European Cup, and the semi-finals of the 1955–56 European Cup, where the Italian club was defeated by eventual champions Real Madrid on both occasions.[1] He is one of four goalkeepers to make 300 total appearances for Milan, behind Christian Abbiati, Sebastiano Rossi, and Dida.

In his later career with Inter, he won another Serie A title during the 1962–63 season under legendary manager Helenio Herrera, who would famously coach Inter to greater domestic and European successes in later years. During his three seasons with Inter, he also reached the semi-finals of the 1960–61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, although his best placement in the Coppa Italia was a quarter-final finish. In total, Buffon won five Serie A titles throughout his career. After spending a season with Fiorentina, he retired after a season with Ivrea in 1965.[1][3]

International career

Buffon was also capped 15 times for the Italian national team between 1958 and 1962, and he represented his country as their captain and starting goalkeeper in the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile. He made 2 appearances throughout the tournament, keeping two cleansheets in a 3–0 win over Switzerland, and in a 0–0 draw against West Germany, while he was replaced in goal by Carlo Mattrel for Italy's second group match against hosts Chile. Italy were controversially eliminated in the first round of the tournament.[1][4]

Style of play

An athletic yet effiient and reliable goalkeeper, Buffon was known in particular for his positional sense, acrobatic saves, and shot-stopping abilities, earning the nickname Lorenzo il Magnifico; despite his reputation as a world-class keeper, he was also occasionally criticised for being inconsistent.[1]

After retirement

Following his retirement from professional football, Buffon worked as a youth talent scout for Milan.[2]

Personal life

Buffon is related to Gianluigi Buffon, the current successful captain and notable goalkeeper of Juventus and the Italian national team.[2] Lorenzo is also a cousin of Gianluigi's grandfather.[2] Lorenzo Buffon is also remembered for his marriage to the late Italian actress and television personality Edy Campagnoli, who had previously been in a relationship with his career rival, Giorgio Ghezzi.[2][5]

Honours

Club

Milan[3]
Inter[3]

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lorenzo Buffon". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ci ritorni in mente... Lorenzo Buffon" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Un rossonero da Raccontare… Lorenzo Buffon" (in Italian). Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Nazionale in cifre: Buffon, Lorenzo". www.figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Il kamikaze Ghezzi e le notti di Cesenatico" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Giampiero Boniperti		 Italy captain
1961–1962 		Succeeded by
Cesare Maldini
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