Serie C does not frighten Buffon

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said yesterday that a strong bond has formed among the Azzurri players as they prepared for the World Cup in the midst of the country's match-fixing scandal.

"I don't want to sound presumptuous but I expected a performance like that against Ghana," he told reporters yesterday.

"There was an energy in the air and a different kind of feeling. If we go out of this competition, whether in the first round, the last 16, the quarter-finals or whenever it will be because we came up against a stronger side," he said.

Buffon said that he felt the players and fans had been able to draw a distinction between the scandal surrounding Serie A and the need for the national team to do well.

"In the midst of all this, it is clear that we are playing for Italy. We are sweating, sacrificing, running and earning our money for Italy," he said.

Buffon's club Juventus are at the centre of the match-fixing investigations in Italy but he said he wasn't frightened of what might become of the Turin club who could be relegated to Serie B if found guilty of trying to influence the outcome of games.

"Nothing frightens me in football any more, I wouldn't even be frightened by Serie C," he said adding that he had no idea of what his plans would be in such a scenerio.

"I will have to see what Juve's project (in the future) will be and then take my decision calmly," he said.