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| Birth Name(s) : Roberto Baggio |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Athlete |
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Full Roberto Baggio Biography
Born in Caldogno, a small town in Northern Italy near Vicenza on the 18 February 1967. Aside from Roberto, the Baggio family had five other children; Gianna, Walter, Carla, Giorgio, Eddy and Anna Maria.
Baggio began his professional career at native club Vicenza in Serie C1 during 1982. Fiorentina snapped him up in 1985, and during his years there, he rose to cult status among the team's fans who consider him to be one of their best ever players. He made his Serie A debut on 21 September 1986 against Sampdoria. He scored his first league goal on 10 May 1987 against Napoli in a match best remembered for Napoli winning the Scudetto for the first time in their history.
He was sold to Juventus amid large outcry from Fiorentina fans in 1990 for 25 billion Italian lira (US$19 million), the world record transfer for a football player at the time. Following the transfer, there were full scale riots on the streets of Florence where fifty people were injured. Baggio replied to his fans saying: "I was compelled to accept the transfer".
In 1993 he won his lone European club trophy, helping Juventus to the UEFA Cup. His performances earned him both the European Footballer of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year titles.
In 1997, when he was thought to be on the downside, 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 FIFA World Cup in place of the younger and favoured Del Piero. Cesare Maldini has since been severely criticised for starting Del Piero ahead of Baggio, who was clearly in the better form, for the quarter-final match against France. When Baggio did come on for Del Piero, Italy seemed to play a lot better and Baggio nearly scored with a superb volley which only just missed the target. Had Baggio scored that shot, Italy would have won via the "golden goal" rule, and France would never have been World Champions. Cesare Maldini later apologized to Baggio for not giving him the playing time he deserved.
After the 1998 World Cup, Baggio signed with Inter Milan. This proved to be an unfortunate move, as the then coach Marcello Lippi did not favour Baggio and hardly played him. This caused Baggio to lose his place in the national team, but whenever 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. His last contribution to Inter Milan was two classic Baggio goals against Parma in the playoff for the last remaining UEFA Champions League place.
Baggio totalled 27 goals in 56 caps for his national team, the fourth-highest of all time for Italy. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups, with a total of 9 career World Cup goals which puts him even with Christian Vieri and Paolo Rossi as Italy's top World Cup scorers.
Baggio's first World Cup was the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and although he was used most often as a substitute in the tournament, he was still able to display his quality, scoring twice including the "goal of the tournament" against Czechoslovakia. Baggio is also much remembered for his class; although regularly designated the penalty shooter for his team, he stepped aside when Italy was awarded one in the third place match, allowing teammate Salvatore Schillaci to score and capture the Golden Shoe.
Baggio finished tied for second in the tournament in goals scored and was named one of the top three players.
Baggio played in 16 World Cup finals matches for Italy. Ireland is the only team against which Baggio played more than once in his 16 games of FIFA World Cup play. He is the highest Italian goalscorer of all-time in the World Cup, with 9 goals from 16 appearances (along with Rossi and Vieri). But Baggio is the only Italian to have scored in three World Cups. Baggio has scored 86 percent of his penalties in Serie A and International football, scoring 106 out of 122 penalties, more than any other player in Italian football history.
When Baggio was in the national team, Italy always left the World Cup at penalties: in 1990 against Argentina, in 1994 against Brazil, and in 1998 against France. Therefore, In 16 world cup matches he played Italy lost only one, Italy's opening game of USA 94 against Ireland. When Baggio played his 16th and last world cup game against Brazil, Brazil's player with most caps in the World Cup did not have 16 games.
Baggio lends his name to one of the most addictive games on the internet. Roberto Baggio's Magical Kicks. It is a 2D game where you pick the Height, direction, and curve of a free kick. It is easy to spend hours trying to master the different kicks. |
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