Italy's national soccer team goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tries to stop a ball during a training session in Milanelllo training grounds, near Milan, June 4, 2007. Italy and Lithuania will play their Euro 2008 Group B qualifying soccer match in Kaunas on Wednesday.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    ROME, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has signed a new deal with promoting Juventus and will stay with the Serie A club till 2012, said Juve Thursday.

    The Italian 2006 World Cup winning goalie had considered leaving but finally opted to stay following the appointment of former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri as coach, after he had stuck with the club for a season in the second division.

    "An important day for me, because I have written a new page in my career and life," Buffon said in a statement.

    "Today we have achieved another important result, as keeping Gianluigi Buffon at Juventus was one of the key points of our plans for the coming years," the club's general manager Jean-Claude Blanc said.

    Juve recently secured promotion back to Serie A following their demotion last year for match-fixing.