Roberto Baggio recognises his career was not what it could’ve been because of injury, coaches like Arrigo Sacchi and that cursed penalty. ‘I lost the World Cup, the Ballon d’Or and World Player of the Year award with one penalty.’
The Divine Ponytail spoke to SkyTG24 while seated on a plane that is named after him, which runs between Rome and Buenos Aires.
He looked back over his career and recognised that he was around at a time when someone of his particular skillset and tactical freedom was frowned upon.
This became all too evident when Sacchi took charge of the Italy squad and had to be almost forced by popular opinion to keep picking Baggio.
“Those were the most difficult years for someone who played in my role. Everyone started playing with zonal marking, Sacchi created this school of thought and the rest all followed.
“For someone like me, who did not have a specific, clearly-defined role, it was tough. Just look at Gianfranco Zola, he had to go to England in order to get playing time at Chelsea. It’s laughable to think about it now.
“I recognise coaches are very important, but ultimately football is down to the players. If you run into a coach who puts his system before the players, you are fighting a losing battle, and a player who doesn’t fit those parameters will be considered an irritant.”
Baggio won the Ballon d’Or in 1993 and was on track to lift it again a year later, taking Italy to the World Cup Final, until he fired that penalty over the bar against Brazil in the Pasadena shoot-out.
“I wanted to send the goalkeeper the wrong way, but I knew he’d studied me and I had never fired one into the roof of the net before. It’s not something you can wipe out.
“When I lost that World Cup, I also lost the second Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. All with one penalty.”
In truth, the fact Baggio was able to have a career at all is extraordinary considering the devastating knee injury he sustained as a teenager when still at Vicenza.
“I didn’t play for nearly two years and I was so young, it affected me badly. I wish you could’ve seen me when I was at Vicenza. I was unstoppable. I was never the same after the injury, it marked me for life.”