Brescia President Gino Corioni says the Serie B club was the only place Roberto Baggio truly felt at home during his playing days.
Brescia President Gino Corioni says the Serie B club was the only place Roberto Baggio truly felt at home during his playing days.
The Lombardy outfit were the final destination of the 47-year-old’s career, which also included spells at Fiorentina, Juventus, Milan and Inter.
Speaking to TuttoJuve.com, the Biancoazzurri chief stated his belief that certain Coaches who worked with Baggio were jealous of him, but that that had not been the case at his club.
“You always miss a player like Roberto,” Corioni said. “It’s not just now that the level of Italian football has dropped.
“There aren’t many players around with talent like his, nor with his character or exemplary behaviour. He is an extraordinary man.
“Roberto fell in love with Brescia because it is the only club where he truly felt at home. He met a Coach who truly understood him, Carlo Mazzone, and who wasn’t jealous of him.
“There were some Coaches he had who, because eight cameras out of every ten would follow Baggio during training, would decide to keep him out of certain matches.
“Roby suffered a lot of these situations. He also suffered because of injuries he had.
“Despite this, I wanted him to play on for at least one more season. However, he told me that every time he had been training he suffered a lot of pain for the first ten minutes before he could continue.
“He said he didn’t want to go through it anymore, so he left football.”