(Photo captured from Reuters video)
MONTE CARLO, Monaco (Reuters) — Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon won the 2016 international Golden Foot award in Monaco on Tuesday (October 11), beating nominees which included Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo, England captain Wayne Rooney and Argentine forward Lionel Messi.
The 38-year-old Juventus player, who was goalkeeper for Italy during this year’s Euro 2016 tournament, said he was very honoured to have won the award.
“For me, I’m very proud to have won. I hope that I have deserved it, and more than anything else I think that it was given to me for what I’ve done and what I’m doing. All the people who like me and who have confidence in me, this is a really powerful recognition,” Buffon told reporters after collecting his golden prize.
Organised by the World Champions Club, the award recognises the best active footballer of the year aged 28 and over and is based on votes by media as well as members of the public.
Buffon’s Italian team crashed out of this year’s Euros in the quarter-finals, losing on penalties to Germany in an epic shootout featuring 18 penalities.
The team earned a 1-1 draw against Spain in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday (October 7), sparing Buffon’s blushes after he gifted the visitors the lead.
The result, in a rough game which produced 32 fouls and eight yellow cards, left both teams with seven points from three games.
“Italy is a team which has changed a lot, we are rebuilding ourselves, we haven’t had any exceptional performances but we have done enough to get seven points, seven points isn’t nothing. I think that we have all the time we need to change how we play on the field and we will be able to improve,” Buffon said.
As well as the player of the year, the Monaco award also recognises various “Golden Football Legends”, with this year’s title given to Brazilian-Portuguese former footballer Anderson Luis de Souza, retired Spanish footballer Carles Puyol, France coach Didier Dechamps and former German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.