Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was on the shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, and is the only Italian player on the list. The Azzurri custodian has had a solid start to the season and has been quite impressive the past several months.

The last Italian to win the award was Buffon’s Bianconeri team-mate and la Nazionale captain Fabio Cannavaro. The winner will be presented on December 23 in Zurich, with the favourite being Barcelona star Lionel Messi, who is odds-on to replace current holder Cristiano Ronaldo.

Former Azzurri custodian Ricky Albertosi recently declared to 24oredisport.com that Buffon is “daring and unique” as he claimed no one in the peninsula comes close to the Juve goalkeeper.

Rami Soufi, Football Italiano