A debut etched in destiny. Here is the story of how our record holder for Azzurri appearances, Gianluigi Buffon, played his very first game in an Italy shirt in the Moscow storm. The snow, the cold, an important place up for grabs and an enormous responsibility in protecting Italy’s goal. At 19, this might have been too much for many. Not for him.

It was 29 October 1997 and the Azzurri were called into action against Russia, playing the first leg of a play-off to decide who would progress to the World Cup finals in France. Midway through the first half, an injury to Pagliuca forced a substitution. All it took was a nod of understanding between Coach Cesare Maldini and the young goalkeeper in Parma’s ranks at the time. His first save on the muddy pitch at the Dynamo Stadium foreshadowed his extraordinary talent, as he did brilliantly to keep out a dangerous effort from Alenichev. More saves then followed, earning him a mention in every post-match report around the country. The game ended 1-1, with his determined defence only being broken by Cannavaro’s unfortunate own goal 52 minutes in, that goal levelling the game after Vieri opened the scoring at the start of the second half, beating the onrushing Ovcinnikov with his left to make the most of Zvejba’s mistake.

Right after the final whistle, Buffon spoke to the Gazzetta dello Sport: “It all happened so fast. Pagliuca got injured and Maldini said: “Gigi, you’re up.” I didn’t have time to get excited. I was too focused on following the game and fighting the cold.”

Buffon was already one of the hottest prospects on the international scene at the time, and rightly so. On his professional debut, he came off the bench aged 17, leaving everyone breathless with a series of stunning saves bordering on miraculous in order to help Parma to a clean sheet against AC Milan.

This was no surprise for Coach Maldini, who said the following to the Gazzetta dello Sport: “I was calm when Buffon came on, because the fact that he’s here means I have the utmost confidence in him.”

From there came an avalanche of titles and personal milestones, both for Italy and at a club level: he competed in five World Cups and four European Championships, played an incredible and record-breaking 176 games for Italy, while also reaching the Holy Grail of football as he lifted the World Cup trophy to the sky in Berlin in 2006. A unique player, an exemplary leader and an Azzurri role model for all.

BUFFON’S DEBUT FOR ITALY
Pagliuca (Buffon 32) - Pessotto (Benarrivo 54), Nesta, Costacurta, Cannavaro, Maldini P. - Baggio D., Albertini, Di Matteo - Ravanelli (Del Piero 60'), Vieri