Gianluigi Buffon is one of the most respected soccer players on the planet. He led Italy to World Cup victory in 2016, was named Serie A’s Goalkeeper of the Year an astonishing 13 times, and won Italy’s top flight 10 times with Juventus.
When a legend like that speaks, the football world listens, and the most capped man in the history of Italy’s Seinol team has an interesting take on a part of football that hasn’t changed since the 19th century: the size of the goal. It shows.
In an interview with Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport, Buffon suggested making the goal bigger.
“There are governing bodies that are definitely looking at this and studying this,” he said, according to the Daily Sport. “Goalkeepers are certainly getting taller, but outfield players are getting faster, more unpredictable, stronger. “I can now hit the ball. The players’ technique is improving,” he told Tuttosport.
“But we can see the effect that the goalkeeper’s height has on long shots. Thirty years ago, there were 10 goals out of every 50 shots. Today, three out of 50 is very low.2 Scoring goals from meter distance is much more challenging for tall goalkeepers.”
The size of goals was standardized in 1875 at 24 feet wide and 8 feet high.
Buffon is known for his height as a player at 6 feet 4 inches, which helped him develop into one of the great goalkeepers in the history of the sport.
The 2006 Ballon d’Or runner-up will retire at the end of the 2022-23 season with Parma in Serie B, where he holds a number of records, including the most appearances in Serie A history.