Roberto Baggio Biography

Roberto Baggio (born February 18, 1967) is a famous Italian former footballer, considered to be among the best forwards in the world throughout the 1990s. In 1993 he won both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, and is still remembered as one of the most beloved and technically gifted players in his country.

Born in Caldogno, near Vicenza, Baggio started his career with Vicenza in Serie C1 in 1981. Fiorentina snapped him up in 1985, and during his years there, he rose to cult status among the team's fans. He was sold to Juventus amid large fan outcry in 1990 for 15 billion Italian lira ($19 million), the world record transfer for a football player at the time.
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Baggio replied to his fans saying: "I was compelled to accept the transfer". That year he played in his first World Cup, and although he was used most often as a substitute in the 1990 tournament, he was still able to display his quality, scoring twice including the "goal of the tournament" against Czechoslovakia. In 1993 he won his lone European club trophy, helping Juventus to the UEFA Cup.

Roberto was the cornerstone of the Italian team during the 1994 World Cup, leading them to the final after a disappointing start. He scored five goals, all in the medal round: two in the Round of 16 to beat Nigeria (with a late equalizer and one in extra time), one in the quarter-finals to top Spain, and two to beat Bulgaria in the semifinals. Unfortunately, Baggio was not fully fit for the final against Brazil, and missed Italy's last penalty (Brazil still had a kick left) as the South Americans won the World Cup title after a 0-0 tie. Two other Italians, Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro, had already missed penalties; had Baggio scored, Brazil would have still had a penalty to win the Cup nevertheless.

Baggio won his first scudetto with Juventus in 1995. After strong pressures from A.C. Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi, he was sold to the Milanese club, at which he won his second scudetto a year later. At the Milan club, he was frequently at odds with his chairman who was once an admirer of Baggio and had declared that he was never a fan of Baggio's dreadlocks but if the striker kept scoring goals at a prodigious rate for the club, Berlusconi would not even bother to care about Baggio's fashion statement. In 1997, when he was thought to be on the downslide, Baggio transferred to Bologna in order to resuscitate his career, and after scoring a personal best 22 goals that year, was included in Italy's starting eleven for the 1998 World Cup in place of the younger and favored Alessandro Del Piero. He scored two goals - one from the spot against Chile, the Italian fans had already forgiven Baggio for his 1994 penalty miss however, as it was well accepted that he was the main reason the Italian side got so far in the tournament to begin with. He also scored the winner against Austria as Italy topped their group. He then added one in the penalty shootout as Italy went out to eventual champions France. He was thought to be one of Italy's main contributors of that tournament, the other being Christian Vieri in a team full of talent but little in terms of flair and teamwork, and also known for playing dour and defensive football.

After the World Cup, Baggio signed with Internazionale. This, however, proved to be an unfortunate move, as the then coach Marcello Lippi did not favour Roberto and hardly played him, preferring to play Ronaldo up front. This made Baggio lose his place in the national team. However, once he could get onto the field, he never left fans disappointed. In his autobiography, Baggio later declared that Lippi had effectively dumped him after Baggio had refused to point out which Inter's players had expressed negative opinions about the coach.

After two years with Inter, in order to be called up for 2002 World Cup, he transferred to previously unfashionable Brescia. Despite a severe injury, he miraculously recovered before the end of the season. However, Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni ignored what most people said and did not take Baggio to Korea and Japan.

Baggio then continued playing at Brescia until his retirement in 2004. Baggio ended his career with 205 goals in Serie A, making him the fifth highest scorer of all time behind Silvio Piola, Gunnar Nordahl, Giuseppe Meazza and José Altafini. He totalled 56 caps and 27 goals for the national team, fourth all time. He scored 9 goals in three World Cups which puts him even with Christian Vieri and Paolo Rossi as Italy's top World Cup scorers. He was given a sendoff match on April 28, 2004 against Spain. His number 10 jersey was retired by Brescia Calcio. Baggio would play in one more match after his retirement, appearing for the European XI at the Football for Hope Indian Ocean tsunami relief benefit on February 15, 2005 at the Nou Camp in Barcelona.

Baggio wrote an autobiography titled Una Porta nel Cielo ("A Goal in the Sky"). In it, he told of many rifts with managers.

Baggio is known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career. He is a devout Soka Gakkai Buddhist, a rarity for an Italian. Much of his success, when asked, he shares that he owes to encouragement from his mentor, Daisaku Ikeda.

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ROBERTO BAGGIO BIOGRAPHY