Far Post Header ‘Hall of Fame’ No.17 – Roberto Baggio
Roberto Baggio is undoubtedly one of the finest Italian footballers ever seen. He worked very well as an attacking midfielder and also as a striker and is regarded as one of the finest players of all-time.
Despite his wonderful career, many remember him for his decisive penalty miss against Brazil in the 1994 World Cup Final. This is desperately unfair on Baggio, as he had been the leading star for the Italians, as he scored five goals to more or less guide them to their first Final since 1982.
He scored twice in in the Italia 90 World Cup in front of his own fans. His performances brought him worldwide attention and Juventus decided to break the world transfer record to bring Baggio to Turin, signing him from Fiorentina for £8 million.
At his third World Cup Finals in France four years later, Baggio score twice in the tournament to become the only Italian to score in three separate finals. In total, Baggio scored 27 goals in 56 games for the Azzuri. Only three players have scored more times for the Italian national team.
In all, Baggio has played for seven different clubs. They are: Vicenza, Fiorentina, Juventus, A.C. Milan, Bologna, Inter Milan and Brescia. He scored a hugely impressive 318 goals over the course of his X year career.
Many players have had strange nicknames and Roberto Baggio was no different. He became known as “The Divine Ponytail” because of his hairstyle! That has to be a lot better than Ray Parlour’s nickname of “Shirley Temple” in his first few years at Arsenal, due to his curly hairstyle!
He began his professional career with Viacenza, who were in Serie C at the time. He msade his debut on the last day of the 1982/83 season at the age of 16. He became a regular in the first-team in the 1984/85 season, scoring 12 times in 29 appearances before Fiorentina came inand offered Baggio the chance to prove himself in Serie A.
Injuries plagued the start of Baggio’s career at Fiorentina but eventually his career in the top flight got underway and Baggio did not disappoint.
With Baggio’s help, Fiorentina reached their first European Final, the 1990 UEFA Cup Final where they lost to fellow Italian side Juventus.
Baggio scored a wonder goal against Czechoslovakia in the 1990 World Cup on home soil, propelling him to being an international success.
Taking the ball from wide on the left, he slalomed through several defenders before curling the ball into the back of the net.
Baggio scored 27 goals in his first season at Juventus, including nine in the European Cup Winners Cup, where he finished top goalscorer.
He became Juve’s captain in 1992/93 and won the UEFA Cup, the only European trophy that he would win in his career. He scored 30 goals over the course of the season and won the Ballon D’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
Baggio won the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia for the first time in the 1994/95 season. Juve wanted to get rid of Baggio in order to focus their attention on nurturing the young Alessandro Del Piero.
AC Milan came in for him and Baggio won the Serie A title for the second season in a row. He didn’t make the Italy squad for the European Championships in England, where Italy underperformed and didn’t progress from the group stages.
Baggio’s disappointing time at the San Siro ended in 1997 when he joined Bologna, a side better known for being in the bottom half of the Serie A table. His prolific form returned, scoring 22 times in the league in his first season at the club.
In 1998, Baggio moved to Inter Milan to play in the Champions League. He was able to do just that but was used sparingly by a number of different managers during a turbulent time at the Milan club.
After two frustrating years at Inter, Baggio moved on to Brescia and he helped guide them to successive finishes in the top ten in the league. The club were exceeding all expectations and Baggio took a lot of the credit.
At the end of the 2003/04 season, Roberto Baggio retired from the game. Over the course of his 21 year career, he played in 643 games and scored 291 goals. He played in three World Cups and scored nine goals for the Azzuri.
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