In a prestigious press conference room in Vinovo yesterday, sat Gianluigi Buffon alongside Juventus president Andrea Agnelli.

The greatest goalkeeper of football’s modern era confirmed that his love affair with Juventus will continue until 2015 at least, but gave reassurance that Italian football will remain in safe hands.

The 34-year-old has taken a believed wage-cut of €2m a season and had even offered to extend his stay to just 12 months, as he is all too aware that it is time to feed the mantle to the next generation of Italian stoppers.

“There is a good generation of goalkeepers coming through…the goalkeeping movement has been regenerated”, he noted.

Buffon was speaking in the wake of Juventus’ 1-1 draw at home to Lazio in the Coppa Italia; fitting then, that Lazio’s Federico Marchetti put in an eye-catching performance to keep the Old Lady at bay the night before.

Marchetti’s performance was simply a continuation of his impressive form this season, even though popular belief amongst Juve fans is that he only turns it on when guarding the goals inside the Juventus Stadium.

In November, Marchetti was simply spectacular to earn his side a goalless draw in the league away at Juventus. The 6ft 2in goalkeeper was commanding and authoritative, whilst showing tremendous agility to deny both Sebastian Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio, either side of a stunning reflex save from a deflected Arturo Vidal effort.

Speaking in 2009, Marchetti, who was at Cagliari, said: “Gigi is quicker than me and reacts faster than me. I depend more on my physical qualities.” A few years on and it is evident that he is now modelling his game on his idol instead of standing in awe; the save from Vidal a prime example.

On Tuesday night, it was Vidal again who was thwarted by the magnificence of Marchetti. Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli was quick to note however, that “it’s not just against us, as he is having a great season.”

Quite true. Lazio’s defensive record this season is one of the main reasons why they are firmly in the scudetto hunt. Federico Marchetti and his backline have only leaked 21 goals in as many games, whilst keeping nine clean sheets.

Impressive further when you consider that he was out of football all together just over seven years ago, and was eventually rescued by Albinoleffe who parted with the measly fee of €500.   

His form this campaign has unsurprisingly resurrected memories of his performances at the 2010 World Cup, and the question of whether he can be the heir to Buffon’s national legacy.

He made his debut for La Nazionale in July 2009 and was awarded the accolade of being Buffon’s number two for the World Cup a year later. Marchetti was forced to appear in every game due to injury to Buffon and even though he kept a clean sheet in his first appearance, he went on to concede four goals out of five shots in the next two as the defending champions crashed out.

Italy’s 2010 campaign was horribly disjointed though, and Marchetti certainly wasn’t solely to blame. He had an ageing defence who offered little protection to the inexperienced goalkeeper, who understandably lacked confidence on the world’s biggest stage.

Current Azzurri boss Cesare Prandelli has recently stated that Salvatore Sirigu, Morgan De Sanctis, Emiliano Viviano and Gianluigi Buffon himself remain ahead of Federico Marchetti in the pecking order. Contrary to this, reports today have linked the Lazio stopper with an international call-up for Italy’s upcoming friendly with Holland.         

Serie A’s new crop of goalkeepers will be expectedly measured against the yardstick that is Gigi Buffon, and greater scrutiny will now be called upon due to the aura of yesterday’s press conference in Vinovo.

Federico Marchetti is certainly determined to force his name under the Italian spotlight, and it won’t have gone unnoticed that there was an uncanny feeling on Tuesday night that he was taking the mantle from the man who called that pitch home.

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