Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon described Roma forward Francesco Totti as a footballing “immortal” and believes it would be difficult to leave him out of the 2014 World Cup squad if he maintains his present club form.

Buffon, who is set to win a national record 137th cap in Italy’s penultimate World Cup qualifier away to Denmark tomorrow, faced questions on a variety of topics when he faced the media at the national training base at Coverciano near Florence yesterday.

One of the burning issues is whether 37-year-old Totti, who has inspired Roma to seven straight wins from the start of the current Serie A season, should be brought back into the national team set-up, something which national coach Cesare Prandelli admitted earlier this week he was considering.

Buffon felt there could be no doubts regarding the quality of his fellow 2006 World Cup winner, and said in quotes reported by the Italian federation’s official website figc.it: “Francesco is immortal.

“He is a player who can make a difference at any stage and at any age.

“It’s normal that you speak of him in those terms (as a national team candidate) but it is also true that we are in October and that there are still eight, nine months until the World Cup.

“If he is still playing this way at the end of the season, no coach would have any doubts about selecting him.”

Buffon will go clear as Italy’s most capped player, surpassing 2006 captain Fabio Cannavaro, if he features as expected in Copenhagen tomorrow.

Speaking about the milestone, he added: “It’s an important achievement but it will not be the last.”