Roberto Baggio reveals he’d love to play for Pep Guardiola, explains what makes the perfect coach and why ‘having a place in people’s hearts is the greatest result any sportsman can achieve.’
The legend gave an interview to the Italian edition of Vanity Fair magazine and discussed his often fractious rapport with some coaches in the 1990s.
“Football is and will always be for the players,” said the Divine Ponytail.
Roberto Baggio reveals he’d love to play for Pep Guardiola, explains what makes the perfect coach and why ‘having a place in people’s hearts is the greatest result any sportsman can achieve.’
The legend gave an interview to the Italian edition of Vanity Fair magazine and discussed his often fractious rapport with some coaches in the 1990s.
“Football is and will always be for the players,” said the Divine Ponytail.
“The best coaches are the ones who recognise that and know how to treat players with honesty, know how to talk to them, how to maintain respect and discuss technical issues.
“I would’ve loved to work with a coach like that. You can learn about tactics by studying, but it’s more difficult to find human qualities.
“I think the current coach I’d have loved to play for is Guardiola. I think he’s the best there is.”
Baggio was teammates with Guardiola at Brescia, albeit for just six months in 2003, before the Italian retired in the summer of 2004.
Although he won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 1993, along with two Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup, Baggio only came close to the World Cup with that penalty shoot-out against Brazil in 1994.
“Still having a place in people’s hearts, that is the greatest result any sportsman can achieve. Representing positive values, giving moments of joy, that is worth more than a result on the pitch, because sometimes results can be transformed by bad luck.
“That doesn’t mean trophies aren’t important, at the end of the day we all play to win, but that cannot be all there is to it.”