It’s time that Buffon had his gloves on Euro crown

HERE’S a question: name a goalscoring feat that Lionel Messi has failed to achieve but which I most certainly have. Puzzled? Let me explain. To find the only time I can say I have surpassed Messi, we need to go back to December 8, 1993, in the Sardinian town of Pula, where England Under-16s had travelled to take on Italy.

I didn’t score many goals in my career but this one lives in the memory. A sweeping move ended with a cross from the byeline and me connecting with a firm header that flashed past the goalkeeper to send us on the way to a 2-0 win.

And who was the goalkeeper? Gianluigi Buffon, who made his debut for Italy in that game. He has been keeping strikers at bay for almost 25 years. Messi has drawn three blanks against him, but he could not contain a young James Carragher!

I was born on January 28, 1978, the same day as Buffon (pictured). Something else we have in common, I discovered on Wednesday, is that his appearance against Monaco means we have both played 150 games in UEFA competitions. I’m delighted, however, that he will move past me on June 3.

Buffon has been a star from the moment he began his senior career with Parma. He is now the emblem of Juventus and if there is any romance left in football, the 39-year-old will help his side beat Real Madrid and lift the European Cup next month.

He said this week that winning the competition was not a personal obsession, that he would not have regrets at the end of his career if the trophy eluded him. But he deserves this piece of silverware to complete the set, for all he has given to Juventus and the game in general.

There is so much I admire about him. His longevity is remarkable, his loyalty to Juventus impeccable. When they were relegated to Serie B in 2006 after the matchfixing scandal, it would have been easy for him to leave because he had just won the World Cup. His decision to stay would not have been easy.

What he has shown over the last decade, though, is why he is the best goalkeeper of his generation. Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is regarded as the finest keeper in the world right now, but I don’t believe he is as good as Buffon was at the peak of his powers.

In both legs of the quarter-final against Barcelona and the semifinal matches against Monaco, Buffon made interventions that went a long way to propelling Juventus to Cardiff. His reflex stop to thwart Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta was as good a save as I’ve seen this season.

To see Buffon still producing brilliance in that manner makes you think about the business Juventus conducted in 2001 to sign him. The fee back then was colossal and no subsequent transfer involving a goalkeeper has been worth anywhere near the £33million that Parma banked. We sometimes undervalue the importance of goalkeepers. But as we have heard Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola say so often this season, the boxes are where matches are determined and keepers, in the same way as strikers, are the difference between winning and losing.

I remember when Buffon joined Juventus and the headlines his fee generated, but how about this for value? Juventus have not had to look for a new No 1 in 16 years.

If Juve get the right result against Roma tomorrow to clinch the Serie A title, they will claim their 16th trophy since 2001.

Juve’s investment was huge but it continues to pay rich dividends.

Buffon is in a distinguished group including the Brazilian Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Cantona, Pavel Nedved and Lothar Matthaus who are regarded as the best players never to win the Champions League.

I know the emptiness that comes with losing in the final and I’ve never forgotten how desolate I felt after Liverpool were beaten in Athens by AC Milan in 2007.

Buffon has endured that misery twice and does not deserve to suffer it again. We should all be rooting for him in Cardiff.