Who Will Be Italy Captain? Buffon Or Del Piero?

The debate has started in Italy over who will replace Fabio Cannavaro as the new captain of Italy, and it appears to be a straight race between Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro Del Piero.


Cannavaro’s heartbreaking training ground injury yesterday which has ruled him out of Euro 2008 has not only left a massive gap at the heart of the defence, it has also deprived the Azzurri of their captain and leader.

The two favourites to be named as the new captain are Buffon and Del Piero, who are the two highest appearance makers in the squad, the former winning 82 caps, and the latter 86.

The fact that Del Piero is not a first team regular, and won’t start against Holland in Italy’s first game of the tournament on Monday, means that Buffon will probably win the nod.

The 30-year-old has captained the Azzurri once before, during a 2-0 Euro 2008 qualifying win over Georgia last October, a game that Cannavaro missed due to suspension.

Other outsiders to be named as skipper are Christian Panucci, Gianluca Zambrotta and Milan duo Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, however Donadoni is likely to opt for the leadership qualities of Buffon.