Gianluigi Buffon Recovers From Injury And Takes Time Off With Family In Malta

By Author: Angelo Xuereb
Total Articles: 11
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Gianluigi Buffon was born in Carrara Italy 28 January 1978. Born into a family of athletes it was sure to propel him into sports stardom. His mother was a discus thrower, his father a professional weight lifter, his two sisters volleyball players and his uncle Angelo Masocco an Italian basketball player. Also goalkeeping legend Lorenzo Buffon is a cousin of Gianluigi's grandfather.

Gianluigi Buffon began his Football career with the youth system of Parma in 1991 at the age of 13, soon achieving his first professional contract at age 17 from Parma Football Club.

Being sent straight into the depths of the Serie A one of the hardest leagues to play in if you're a goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon proved to have a strong mind and a strong body and quickly earned a first squad position. In just 3 years after he signed for Parma, Buffon was awarded his first cap for the Italian national team, in a FIFA World Cup match against Russia (he replaced Gianluca Pagliuca who was injured).

Although Gianluigi Buffon played well for Parma his place in the national team wasn't certain and he had no real trophy winning perspectives ...
... by playing for the mid-table club. Fortunately for Buffon, Juventus Torino always had a good sense for world class soccer goalkeepers and in 2001 paid out a sum of 32 million euros which was at the time the biggest transfer fee paid out for a goalkeeper.

Juventus is more than a Football club, it's a warranty of quality for the players the team employs. This was the case for Gianluigi Buffon who kept up on great performances for the new club but at the same time, he also won the battle with Toldo for the place in Italy's goal. Since then, he has been a constant option for his national team and his club and showed that the Juventus fans appreciated Gianluigi's honor and loyalty when he didn't leave the club after the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, when his team was relegated to the second division.

In 1998 Gianluigi Buffon became a World Cup goalkeeper and has since played in two more World Cups, winning the one in 2006. Despite the World Cup title being his most valued trophy up to date, he has also won the "Best Goalkeeper" and "Most Valuable Player" awards in 2003, at the UEFA European Football Awards. He was also nominated on Pele's 125 greatest soccer players of all times list, which was a huge honor and an "award" with a good amount of sentimental value. After all, it's not everyday your name gets nominated on the same list as Alfredo DiStefano, Maradona, David Beckham, Cruyff or Platini.

Gianluigi Buffon was substituted at half-time during Italy's World Cup Group F opener by Federico Marchetti in June 2010 against Paraguay because of a back problem, coach Marcello Lippi said it was too early to tell how bad it was, He has a bit of problem in his back, said Lippi. He had an ache during the warm-up and then he said he wanted to play, but after the first half he said he couldn't continue. It's unfortunate as we lost a substitution which would have been handy for the game. I don't know how bad the injury is or how long it will take him to recover. The doctors will have to tell us that.

If things keep going at the current pace, Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri will not be able to field a team by the time November comes around as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been declared out until the beginning of December with an adductor muscle injury. "The scan confirmed a second degree strain which means Buffon will not be able to do anything apart from have physiotherapy to his injury," said Juve Medical Director Riccardo Agricola on the team's official website. With the injury, Buffon will not be able to do any type of training for months. According to Agricola, "Once that is finished he can return to a specific training programme two weeks later. Following that, he will be able to participate with the normal training if he recovers properly."

Whilst recovering from his injury Gianluigi Buffon took time off in Malta with his family at The Palace Malta Hotel in Sliema and had the opportunity to wine and dine at the hotel's restaurants TemptAsian and Talk of Town Cafe.

TemptAsian Restaurant & Talk of town Cafe are located in The Palace Hotel Malta. The Palace Malta is a leading stylish five-star Luxury Spa Hotel in Sliema, Malta. The Palazzo Capua is an adjoining prestigious Palazzo which has been transformed into an exclusive conference and wedding venue complemented by five distinctive Suites.