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Roberto Baggio and his first 40 years
Friday, 16 February 07, 11:45 AM · Comments (3)
Roberto Baggio...turned tail after his retirement
I forgave Marcello Lippi for sending Baggio away from Inter in 2000 only last Summer, as the coach from Viareggio won the World Cup on Italy's bench. Well, it's always been Roberto's destiny to be kicked away by coaches that suffered too much his important presence. It happened at Juventus, when Del Piero came and took his place, it happened at AC Milan, and it happened also at Inter. Baggio left the Nerazzurri with two goals in a very important match vs Parma that qualified them to Champions League. Then, he went to Brescia and everybody said he was over: 95 games with 45 goals in four years were his reply.
Most of all, Baggio for the Italian fans is the heart and soul of the Notti Magiche (magic nights) of the World Cup 1990: Stadio Olimpico in Rome shouted with joy and people couldn't believe their eyes after his goal to Czechoslovakia, a fifty metres ride as he entered the goal with the ball glued to his magic right foot. He had just dribbled six opponents!
Before Cannavaro in 2006, Roby Baggio was the last Italian to win the Ballon d'or and the Fifa World Player in 1993. Then, his mistake in the penalty kicks sequence in World Cup final -Usa 94- was a spot in his career, but back to Italy he won two consecutive Scudetti with two different jerseys: Juventus and AC Milan. Once he left Milan, he did well in Bologna, Inter and Brescia, played another World Cup in 98 and in 2002 fans and media entered into debate with Trapattoni because he didn't bring Baggio to its possible fourth World Cup. The lost versus South Corea helped keeping this debate live, even a lot of time after tha World Cup had finished.
Roberto Baggio will be 40 on the 18th of February, next Sunday. He stopped playing football in summer 2004, and after that we did not hear a lot of him. Now he lives in a large country house close to Caldogno (Vicenza), his home town. He doesn't follow Italian football, just hardly knows that Inter is dominating. From time to time he goes to the stadium, but only while he is in Argentina (over there he owns a farm), in his frequent shooting holidays. In fact, hunting is an old passion of his, and now he can practise it almost full time. He lives in a golden isolation, runs a sport goods shop where his sister works. He still follows Buddhism.
In other words, he enjoys the pleasures of family life (he has a wife and three sons), and lives in a home where he has even built a museum with 300 wood birds, a stuffed wild pig and a small boat with some ducks around. Well, it is not necessary that every top player stays in football world after retirement, but only the great stars will never be forgotten even if they become just family men or everything but a coach. And Roberto Baggio is one of these...
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Gabriele, a lovely tribute to a world class player that brought joy to the game. He is definitely one of the reasons I follow the Azzuri and love Italian football. I love Baggio and he deserves a quiet life.
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Gabriele
Roma, IT
Un posto diverso da Calciopoli, molto più bello!
3 Comments · Add yours
BORING
I hate those idiotic coaches but I forgive Lippi since he helped Italy won the World Cup.