Roberto Baggio was born in Caldogno (Vicenza), on February 18, 1967.
He started playing football with his hometown of Caldogno between 1974 and 1980. He then joined nearby Vicenza's youth sector for another three years. He scored 110 goals in 120 games…
He made his debut with the "Lanerossi" at 16 on June 5, 1983 in a C1 game against Piacenza. He played three seasons for the Biancorossi, playing 34 games and scoring 14 goals. In his last year Vicenza were promoted to Serie B, but in May Baggio suffered a serious injury to his right knee, unfortunately it would not be the last in his career.
In 1985 he arrived in Serie A when he joined Fiorentina. The Florentines took Baggio on despite his recent injury. In his first year, under Aldo Agroppi, after a long rehabilitation he played 5 games in Coppa Italia.
The following year, under Eugenio Bersellini, he would play 5 league games with 1 goal (Napoli), 4 in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Empoli 2) and 1 game in the UEFA Cup.
In 1987-88 he finally started playing regularly. Under Sven-Goran Eriksson and Sergio Santarini, Baggio played 27 league games with 6 goals (Milan, Torino, Pisa, Ascoli, Pescara, Juventus) and 7 in Coppa Italia with 3 goals (Udinese, Livorno, Napoli).
The 1988-89 season saw the "Viola" qualify for the UEFA Cup after a play off against Roma (Roberto Pruzzo the matchwinner of all people). Baggio had become a star and Curva Fiesole fan favourite. He played 30 league games (plus the playoff) with 15 goals (including Lazio) and 10 in Coppa Italia with 9 goals.
The next season the "Gigliati" had a new manager in Bruno Giorgi then replaced by Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani (former Viola player). Fiorentina struggled to stay up and also often had to play far from home as their stadium was being renovated for Italia' 90. They did however get to the UEFA Cup Final but lost to Juventus. Baggio had another excellent season with 32 league appearances and 17 goals (including Lazio), 2 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Licata) and 12 in the UEFA Cup with 1 goal (Dinamo Kiev).
In the summer of 1990 Baggio was sold to Juventus, a team hated by Fiorentina fans. This started years of protests, initially urban warfare, then the national team having to move from Coverciano (training headquarters) to Milan for their world cup preparation, many fans supporting Argentina against Italy and as late as 1993 whistling Italy and the national anthem in a friendly versus Mexico.
Baggio had a good world cup, in a tournament where a fairer and surely more spectacular final would have been Italy vs England (could not have been any worse than Germany -Argentina).
Protests apart, the fact was that Roby Baggio was off to become a "Gobbo" (hunchback, as Florentines call Juventini). On his return to Florence, playing in black and white stripes, he refused to take a penalty and at the end of the game, picking up a viola scarf went some way towards a sort of pacification. A few years later he would however take a penalty for Juve in Florence, score and celebrate.
He stayed with the Bianconeri for five seasons. After a difficult start under Gigi Maifredi, things improved under Giovanni Trapattoni first and then Marcello Lippi. Baggio won the UEFA Cup in 1993, the Coppa Italia in 1995 and above all the Scudetto in 1995. These were years where Milan were dominating Italian and European football. Baggio played 200 games for the "Zebras" and scored 115 goals. In his time in Turin he continued to be plagued by injuries which limited his playing time. With the rise of young talent Alessandro Del Piero, the "Divin Codino" changed colours.
In the summer of 1995 he became a Rossonero of Milan. He played two seasons for the "Diavolo", first under Capello, then Oscar Tabarez, and finally Arrigo Sacchi. In his first year under Don Fabio they won the Scudetto and Baggio contributed with 7 league goals. His second year was more problematic with an 11th place and he got 5 league goals. He played a total of 67 games and scored 17 goals in his two-year spell.
In 1997 he joined Bologna for a season. It was a great success under Renzo Ulivieri and Baggio scored 22 league goals with the "Felsinei" finishing 8th and qualifying for the Intertoto Cup.
The following year he was back in the "big time" with Inter. His first year was difficult. The Nerazzurri changed manager three times, from Gigi Simoni, Mircea Lucescu, Luciano Castellini to Roy Hodgson. They finished 8th and Baggio played 35 matches scoring 5 league goals, 1 in Coppa Italia and 4 in Champions League. They failed to qualify for the UEFA Cup after losing twice in a double play off against Bologna.
The next year, under Marcello Lippi, he played less, only 18 league games with 6 goals (including a playoff). Inter came 4th and qualified for Champions League in a playoff with Parma and Baggio's leaving present was a decisive brace.
In 2000 he made a surprise move to Brescia but it turned out to be a good choice. In the twilight of his career he delighted fans with four more positive seasons. He made 101 appearances for the "Rondinelle" (Little Swallows) and scored 46 goals. The Lombards finished 8th, 13th (semis of Coppa Italia and Intertoto Final), 9th and 11th. Three years under charismatic Roman Carlo Mazzone and the last under Gianni De Biasi.
At 37 "Raffaello" Baggio called it a day and it was a sad one for Italian football.
At International level level Baggio earned 56 caps and scored 27 goals. He took part in 3 World Cups '90, '94 and '98. In USA 1994 he almost won Italy the title single handedly but was then hampered by an injury in the final against Brazil and missed the decisive penalty in the shoot out. He is Italy's top scorer in World Cups with 9 goals (along with Paolo Rossi and Christian Vieri) and is the only player to have scored in three different tournaments.
In 1993 he won the prestigious FIFA World Player award and the Ballon D'or.
In his private life a curious fact is that he is a Buddhist, adhering to the Japanese Soka Gakkai. He has opened Buddhist and meeting centres in Thiene (Veneto) and in 2014 opened the biggest Buddhist cultural centre in Europe, in Corsico (Milan). He also runs an agricultural business and is an Ambassador for FAO. In 2010 he was given the Peace Summit Award for his social work against hunger and for world peace. He is an extremely popular character especially in Italy but also worldwide.
As a player he was one of the best of his generation. He was what Italians call a "fuoriclasse" (a class apart/outstanding champion). His idol as a kid was Brazilian Zico and he possessed the same elegance. He was nicknamed Raffaello for his masterclass and obviously Divin Codino for his famous ponytail.
Baggio is 1.74 for 73 kilos. He could play in all attacking roles. Michel Platini once described him as a number 9 ½ and this would sometimes cause Baggio some tactical incomprehensions with various managers (Capello, Sacchi, Ulivieri to mention a few). He was technically superb, great touch of the ball and could play with both feet. He could set up goals but was also a goal scorer with amazing dribbling skills and precise shooting abilities. He had a dangerous free kick (21 goals in Serie A) and a reliable penalty taker (68 out of 83 in Serie A) although many will remember him for the USA '94 miss. A goal which maybe sums up his talents could be the one against Czechoslovakia in Italia '90, a mix of speed, agility, balance and precision.
Despite his many injuries Baggio is considered to be one of Italy's all time greats. A perfect combination of agility, elegance, speed and refined skills.
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