The Italian goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon will miss Saturday night’s Group D opener against England after failing to recover from an injury picked up in training, according to reports in Italy, - Guardian wrote.
Buffon reportedly underwent physiotherapy at the team’s base earlier in the day, but has not recovered sufficiently to be available for selection at the Arena Amazônia. The goalkeeper then posted a cryptic-sounding message on Twitter shortly after the news broke, saying: “Hello everyone … life is beautiful and I am still in debt to it … neither a game nor a World Cup missed would make me change my mind.
The 36-year-old’s injury is a significant blow to Prandelli, who leans heavily on the combined experience of the Juventus goalkeeper and his team-mate, the midfielder Andrea Pirlo. With 140 international appearances, he is comfortably the most capped player in Italy’s squad and will almost certainly be replaced by Paris Saint-Germain’s Salvatore Sirigu, who has eight.