NEUER NOT YET AMONG WORLD BEST GOALKEEPER SAYS LEGENDARY GIGI BUFFON

Juventus legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon paid tribute to his Bayern Munich and German  goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, but said it is too early to name him as one of the world's best.
Buffon, at 38, is widely regarded as the best of his generation while Neuer, nine years his junior, is pioneering a new goalkeeping style which has won him many fans and much recognition.
When asked if the German No. 1 was already in the category of world-class, Buffon shrugged his shoulders.
"I've been fortunate to see some fantastic, reliable goalkeepers with plenty of quality," Buffon said at a news conference in Turin. "Of course Neuer is one of this group of goalkeepers and he's a goalkeeper who plays in a very open-minded way.
"Obviously given the way his team play, he's an important pillar who gives them a huge hand, but when I think of great keepers, the likes of [Iker] Casillas, [Petr] Cech or [Oliver] Kahn and many others who I have not mentioned either come to mind.
"We must not get carried away by the moment."

 

That also means Buffon is not getting carried away by his own achievements, or by his current record of 654 minutes without conceding. Instead, he credited his teammates for helping him keep so many consecutive clean sheets.
"I knew it was a while since I last conceded, I admit it," he said. "But I didn't know how many games and minutes, and you're telling me it's over 600 minutes? Well this says we've got a great defence, which is not the same as saying we have a great goalkeeper.
"Of course it helps to have individual players in defence who are reliable with great quality, but when you concede few goals it's because you have a full team working to ensure that the opponents' attacks are not dangerous."