Italian on Verge of Goalkeeper Record

Gianluigi Buffon (28, Juventus FC) from Italy, who surprised the German players by his stunning performance in the semi-final in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, is close to winning not only the Yashin award, the most outstanding goalkeeper’s honor, but also the world record of playing without losing a point.

Advancing past Jens Lehmann, who is one of his rivals for the Yashin Award, he has blanked his opponents for 453 minutes since allowing a goal against the U.S. team in the second Group match. He is about to replace the 517-minute world record by Walter Zenga from Italy in the 1990 Italy World Cup if he continues allowing no goals for more than 65 minutes.

The president of FIFA is in consideration of whether to ease the punitive suspension rule, which prohibits three cumulative yellow-carders from appearance in the next game.

The AP reported on July 5 that the chairman has hinted the possible change, saying, “It is wise to shift from a two yellow card rule to a three yellow card one. Premier leagues allow players to stay in the field until they get three to five yellow cards. It is necessary for us to be more general with the red card rule. In the near future, three yellow cards should be required to prevent a player from playing the very next game,” he added.

For 61 out of all 64 games, 27 reds and 334 yellow cards have been issued, which is a record figure so far. The referees are being criticized for abusing the cards.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com