Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon says he enjoys silencing his critics as he refuses to put a definite date on when he will retire from the game.
Buffon, 38, has been criticised for a series of mistakes in recent weeks -- first for Italy against Spain and then for Juve against Udinese last weekend -- but he has dismissed suggestions that the time is approaching for him to call it a day.
"At the end of the day, it's funny when they announce your funeral and then you go and prove them wrong," Buffon told Mediaset television. "This is what I live for, to make people eat their words."
Buffon has his sights set on making his Italy swansong at the 2018 World Cup, when he will be 40, but he does not say that will necessarily bring the curtain down on his career, even though he is aware that day will arrive eventually.
"When that moment comes, I will accept it serenely," he said. "To keep going, you need to find stimuli and this comes especially from criticism. I never get tired of receiving awards."