Buffon 'Eternal Man', Recorded 1100th Professional Competition At Age 43

JAKARTA - Gianluigi Buffon made history earlier today. Not only did he play his first match since he was 43 years old, but also made his 1100th professional football match.

The goalkeeper started for Juventus in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter at the San Siro.

According to Opta, this is the 1100th match in Buffon's professional career, between club and country.

1100 - Gianluigi #Buffon will play tonight his 1100th match among clubs and Italy. Infinity. # InterJuventus #CoppaItalia #InterJuve pic.twitter.com/fOHMcVCujj

- OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 2, 2021

In a Juventus shirt, Buffon made his 679th appearance. In addition; 220 for Parma, 25 for Paris Saint-Germain and 176 for the Italian national team.

Buffon turns 43 on January 28.

In this early evening's match, hosts Inter took the lead through Lautaro Martinez's goal in the ninth minute. Megastar Ronaldo equalized with a penalty in the 26th minute before scoring the second in the 35th to turn things around.

1️⃣, 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ The 𝕃𝔼𝔾𝔼ℕ𝔻 keeps on going and going! 🦸🏻‍♂️😍 # InterJuve #CoppaItalia #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/3oK30F99uz

- JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 2, 2021

The two teams only met in an Italian League match 16 days ago in which Inter won 2-0 at the same venue. Nerrazurri is without Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi who are suspended, while Juve cannot play Paulo Dybala and Aeron Ramsey.

Buffon makes a sensational save to thwart Matteo Darmian's chances when they are one-on-one.

69 '| 🧤 | SUPER SAVE BY @GIANLUIGIBUFFON TO DENY DARMIAN! #InterJuve [1-2] #CoppaItalia pic.twitter.com/22PrDp1sNT

- JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 2, 2021