Italy chief hails Buffon example

FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio says Gianluigi Buffon remains as crucial as ever for Italy ahead of Euro 2016.

The goalkeeper will again skipper his country in France and looks set for another strong tournament after a fine campaign between the posts for Juventus, in which on Sunday he broke the Serie A record for not conceding a goal.

At 38, Buffon has been there and done it and, with Andrea Pirlo likely to miss out on Antonio Conte’s squad, he will be the sole remaining member of the team that won the Azzurri’s fourth World Cup in 2006.

Italy are currently 17.00 to be crowned European Champions for a second time and are priced at 2.63 to top a tricky looking Group E which sees them go up against Belgium, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.

Next up for Antonio Conte’s men are friendlies against Spain and Germany and Buffon is again likely to feature having also been the boss’s captain at Juve.

His tally of 154 caps is a record for the Italians and his calming nature and professionalism means he sets a fine example to those around him.

Tavecchio admits that, despite his age, Buffon remains a key man for the national team and believes his positive influence can help inspire the rest of the players during this summer’s tournament.

“Buffon is the symbol of Italian football par excellence,” Tavecchio told Radio1. “He is a person with a great sense of ethics and morality. He works with common sense and he always looks for problems to be resolved.

“He is our lighthouse and the national team cannot do without him. Gigi, with his way of understanding this profession, can still give us very much. He is our pole star.”