As a World Cup winner and two-time Serie A champion, Gianluigi Buffon could be forgiven if his competitive fire no longer burned as fiercely. Adored by Juventus supporters for his loyalty during the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, his reputation as a club legend is safe regardless of how the remainder of his career pans out. In short, it is scenario that invites him to enter cruise control.
But Buffon is doing no such thing – instead, he casts a motivated figure. Juventus are entering a new era under new boss Antonio Conte, the former Bianconeri midfielder, and the Italian goalkeeper has a key role to play in bringing the squad together to challenge for the Serie A title again. It will be no easy feat - after all, Juventus have not won the Scudetto since 2003 and finished a distant seventh last season.
There are plenty of reasons for optimism, though. Midfield schemer Andrea Pirlo, a long-time team-mate of Buffon with the Italian national team, arrived this summer with a point to prove after falling out of favour at AC Milan while the club also added defender Stefan Lichtsteiner, central midfielder Michele Pazienza and versatile left-sided player Reto Ziegler. All four have already begun to settle into their new surroundings.
However, Buffon also sounded a note of caution as he prepares to lead Juventus into the new Serie A season.
“In all new projects, whenever you begin, there is the enthusiasm of everyone,” Buffon said through an interpreter in Toronto this weekend. “But we’re only at the beginning of this project right now with the new team.
“We have to look at our objective, which is to become an important team again. We have to overcome the obstacles that we will encounter. We really need to look at this for a full year before you can make decision on how the team is doing.”
A 2-1 loss to Sporting Lisbon on Saturday at Toronto’s BMO Field - part of World Football Challenge 2011 - confirmed that Buffon and Conte have hard work ahead. Juventus fielded all four new recruits but were overrun by a quicker, stronger Sporting side. Alessandro Del Piero and Luca Toni only joined the action in the second half but, despite a sublime finish from the former late on in Toronto, the lack of cutting edge is a concern.
But it is still early days for this group of players and Buffon has been around long enough to know that only so much can be gauged from pre-season form. More important is the fact that the Italian stopper remains as committed and focused as ever. With that in mind, do not bet against Juventus being back in the top three by next May.
Tom Oldfield
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