Italy’s Buffon to play his 1,000th match

— Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon will mark his 1,000th appearance as a professional in the World Cup qualifier against Albania on Friday.

Buffon made his debut at the age of 17 in 1995, playing for Parma, before moving to Juventus in 2001.

The goalkeeper has played for Italy for more than 19 years, having made his debut at 19 on Oct. 29, 1997.

“It’s a huge pleasure,” Buffon said on Thursday about reaching the landmark, before joking, “I can tell you there will be another thousand.”

Buffon is expected to retire after the 2018 World Cup in Russia. If Italy gets to the finals, he will become the only footballer to feature in six World Cups.

“I’m just thinking about the next matches,” he said when asked about retiring in 2018.

“In life we have objectives: It’s important to win, (but) when you want to win big there’s a risk of being burned. We’ll think about things calmly.”

Buffon will make his 168th appearance for Italy, becoming the most capped player in European football history.

AFP-Yonhap Juventus’ Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon warms up prior to the Italian Serie A football match Sampdoria versus Juventus at the Luigi Ferraris stadium in Genova, on March 19.