Gianluigi Buffon was born in Carrara on January 28 1978 in a family of sportsmen and women: his mother Maria Stella used to be a first rate shot putter and discus thrower, father Adriano used to be a top-level shot-putter, and sisters Guendalina and Veronica have played professional volleyball at the highest level. Gianluigi is happily engaged to Czech model Alena Seredova, and the couple has a baby: Louis Thomas.

In his free time he listens to a lot of music. He likes the biggest Italian and international hits of all time (Pink Floyd’s Wish You were here, Queen's We are the Champions and Certe Notti by Ligabue), as well as the new hits played on the radio. He also likes watching movies a lot and, when he can, he adores doing so relaxing on his sofa. His favourite actor is Nicolas Cage, whereas his personal cult movie is definitely The Untouchables. He doesn't watch television much.

One of his favourite ways to relax is going back to Carrara, where he can feel the warmth of home and re-live the carefree attitude he had as a boy. Gigi is very particular about his clothes: he wears casual wear during the day, and classic cuts in the evening when he's out with friends, maybe at a nice restaurant. Since February 2005 he has had his own clothing line together with his sister Veronica, called “Baggage”.

His favourite dish is pasta alla carbonara but as he loves good food in general he adores all traditional Italian dishes. He doesn't know a lot about wine. If he has to choose, he goes for red wines, strictly from Tuscany.

He began playing footie at the Canaletto Youth Academy, an amateur organization in La Spezia, and when he was a little older he joined Perticata, an amateur team based in Carrara. He was employed as a striker in both teams because of his powerful physique. At 12 he joined Bonascola and at 13 he joined Parma. At 14 one day he was forced to play in goal because both keepers were injured. In just two weeks, he'd become the regular first team keeper, just like his idol Thomas N’Kono, the famous Cameroonian keeper who played at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. After Gigi joined Parma, his career was very quick and he made his debut at just 17, in a UEFA Cup game against Halmstad (the match ended 0-0) and in Serie A against AC Milan (another 0-0). His happiest memory at Juventus is when he won his first League title, while his top moment with the National team will always be winning the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

He dreams of building a nice big family like the one he grew up in, and he hopes to be blessed with a quiet, happy future.