5 days ago
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Insight from Italy
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It’s not easy to emulate the career path of an illustrious father but Louis Buffon is certainly making an impression in the fledging stages of his career. Gianluigi Buffon, his father, is one of the greatest goalkeepers in history and an icon of Italian football. The former Juventus stopper is Italy’s record appearance holder with 176 caps but his son has opted against playing for Gil Azzurri, so far. Born in Torino, Buffon has opted to represent the Czech Republic at youth level with his mother, Alena Seredova, from the Central European nation.
The main motivation behind his decision was that his family agreed that he’d get more opportunities at the Czech national team. On his decision, Buffon stated: "My mother was of course very happy, but my father was also excited because it was my first nomination for the national team. He also advised me to do so because that's where I can develop myself best as a player." And the 17-year-old enjoyed a prolific international break with two hat-tricks for Czech Republic’s U19 side as his reputation continues to soar.
Who is Louis Buffon? Son of legendary Gianluigi
The Italian-born attacker briefly spent time at Juventus’ youth academy before joining current club Pisa. Buffon impressed in the Primavera 2 last season, scoring eight goals in 28 appearances and he made his professional debut against Torino - the city of his birth - in September. The youngster’s Serie A debut arrived in October and he’s expected to be afforded more opportunities in the coming months. But Buffon truly propelled his name into the spotlight during the international with two hat-tricks in three games. The attacker collected the match ball against Azerbaijan and provided an assist before netting another hat-trick against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night - he played 13 minutes against Malta in between those two games.
As the graphic above illustrates, Buffon is currently the joint-top scorer in the U19 European Championship qualifiers and he’s also captained the Czech youth team. To provide some insight into the young attacker, we spoke to Aniello Luciano, Italian football expert at Transfermarkt. “Despite being the son of one of Italy's most famous footballers, Buffon junior remains relatively unknown even after his professional debut in the cup and in Serie A with Pisa,” said Luciano. “The attention has increased due to his performances in the Primavera 2 championship last season and to his numbers this year with the national team. He’s very talented, he is a striker capable of attacking depth, both centrally and on the wing, but also of building the game, almost as a number 10. Buffon is very agile, but also strong and he’s glacial in front of goal."
Will Buffon follow in his fathers footsteps with Italy?
Naturally, Buffon’s decision to represent the Czech Republic at youth level has raised intrigue amongst general football fans. It’s unquestionably been the correct call as he’s been handed more opportunities and he even played against Italy U19 in a 2-1 defeat in September. But given his father’s billing as one of Italy’s greatest players, Buffon will inevitably face a difficult decision in the future, if his career follows its current trajectory. “It is not a definitive choice because the FIFA regulations still allow him to change his allegiance,” Luciano added. “Much will depend on his development and whether Italy will take him into consideration in the future, if he fulfils his potential.”
