gianluigi buffon was unanimously voted into the uefa team of the year in 2003 2004 2006 and 2016
in spite of heavy competition from toldo buffon regained the starting goalkeeping spot for the fourth match of the qualification series away to romania and was the starting goalkeeper for the remaining four matches under giovanni trapattoni as italy qualified with an unbeaten record
in his youth buffon supported a number of clubs including his hometown club carrarese along with genoa and german side borussia mnchengladbach up until the age of seven he also supported juventus while between the ages of eight and twelve he was a fan of inter  due to his admiration for manager giovanni trapattoni  as well as pescara como avellino and campobasso before eventually supporting genoa