Roberto Baggio

Roberto Baggio



Date of Birth: 18 February 1967



Current Club: Retired.

Previous Clubs: Brescia, Inter Milan, Bologna, AC Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, Vicenza, Caldogno.

Loan Clubs: N/A.





International: Italy 56 appearances 27 goals.

Trophies Won: FIFA Best Player of the Year 1993. Ballon d'Or 1993. Italian Serie A 1994/95, 1995/96. UEFA Cup 1992/93. Italian FA Cup 1994/95.





There have been many players over the years who sported ponytails, but there has only been one who was 'divine', the great Roberto Baggio was a player who could have been a star in any era. Though his name was more of a pun based on his conversion to Buddhism, Baggio made the sobriquet fit due to his talents. All this despite having knees that were destroyed as early as 18 years old, with doctors telling him that he had no chance to ever play football again.



Not just did he require multiple knee surgeries throughout his career, his right knee receiving 220 internal stitches to re-attach the ligaments after the first knee injury blighted him, but he was also allergic to painkillers. Baggio could feel every one of those stitches! In fact, for most of his career he would barely be able to walk after a match because his knees were causing such pain.



Despite this, his career was almost like one long highlight reel, as he played with pace and power, dribbling through defences, who resorted to rugby tackles and other foul means to try and stop him. He was a scorer of great goals and a great goalscorer, Baggio was like an oasis in the desert for Italian football, which was bereft of flair from Italian players at that time. He was the one Italian who was up there with the likes of George Weah in terms of quality on the ball.



He was not the kind of player who would help with a high press, no doubt Baggio's knees made that impossible, but get him the ball and he made magic happen. As well as being able to dribble through teams, he had a supreme touch, great vision and could spot a pass or shooting opportunity and put the ball almost exactly where he wanted. His deadballs were, well, deadly also.



Unfortunately, the peak of his career was stymied by playing for coaches who did not want a player like him, and his first Scudetto saw him, despite being probably Juve's best player, watching from the bench for most of it. It was a title he never really felt that he earned. A move to rivals AC Milan followed but there he struggled, the year on the bench and anger over his treatment seemed to hold him back and his performances were not at their best.



Milan won Serie A anyway, but again Baggio felt like he did not really contribute to the title win. Just a couple of years after he was lifting the Ballon d'Or and it seemed like his career was basically over, he was being seen as a busted flush. The knees were becoming more of a problem, but Baggio was too great a player to simply fade into obscurity so quickly.



Instead he gradually changed his game to concentrate on what he could do. Gone where the blistering runs, weaving through defenders. Now he was a creator, a facilitator for others to score and he continued to score goals. In fact he became a regular feature in the chase for Serie A's Golden Boot in the latter part of his career, all while being barely able to actually walk or run without excruciating pain. Though he was more of a flash of genius player, than someone who took charge of games.



The adjustments he made to his playing style allowed him to continue playing right up until he was 37 years old, almost 20 years after he had been told his career was effectively over. That is a testament to just how divine Baggio's play truly was, even though his career is sadly mainly remembered within Italy for a penalty miss for his country. He deserved so much more from his career, a great who has left a legacy that can make him feel less than special.



But watch him play, especially the year he won the personal accolades, and you will understand why he is still beloved by those who saw him. He was the outstanding Italian attacker of his generation, the one bit of flair, misused and set aside by Italian tacticians that preferred pragmatism and robotic play.



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