Buffon frustrated by ignorance about goalkeepers

Paris Saint-Germain's Gianluigi Buffon revealed that a lot of the difficult things goalkeepers do go unnoticed by everyone but the players on the pitch.

The legendary Italian, one of the greatest ever in the position, told L'Equipe's Sport & Style magazine that the roles of professional goalkeepers are poorly understood.

“It’s a different profession on the pitch, objectively it’s hard to understand," the 40-year-old said. "But I know that football is so popular that everyone feels the need to comment.

“As players we accept it, if there’s a journalist who criticises us then we may or may not take it badly, but we accept it. We don’t feel protected though, we’re vulnerable to those who don’t understand what we do and influence public opinion.

“Nobody really seems to understand, for example, that the most difficult things for a goalkeeper can be the things that other people don’t see: speaking at the right time, making a suggestion to a defender," he explained.

“Those things could allow you not to concede a goal, or even to score one, and only the other players on the pitch understand that.

"It’s not spectacular, but it’s decisive. No-one sees it, but we know it.