Today he turns fifty -five and the whole boot celebrates him because so many coaches have esteemed him, so many teammates have imitated him, so many fans adored him.
55 years, 10 the number of the blue jersey that many remember linked to the 1990 World Cup in Italy , to those in France in 1998 and above all to those in the United States in 1994 , where Roberto Baggio allowed Italy to reach the final thanks to 5 decisive goals , in particular the brace made to Nigeria, in the round of 16, when it seemed all over, allowing Italy first to equalize and then towin and move on to the quarter-finals. Unfortunately that was also the World Cup where Roberto Baggio was one of the three Azzurri to miss the penalty kick in the final match against Brazil.
In addition to the blue one, Baggio , also referred to as “Raffaello” for the precision of his technique, also wore the jerseys of Vicenza , where he started, of Fiorentina , of Juve , of Milan , of Bologna , of Inter and of Brescia . last will no longer be worn by anyone: that ten remains his.
If there is anyone who can embody the meaning of the word ” champion ” this is certainly Roberto Baggio, an extraordinary playmaker capable of covering multiple roles. Michel Platini , whose legacy Baggio inherited from Juventus, described him as a ” nine and a half “, that is, a player with perfect technique, halfway between an attacker and a finisher. “Sor Carletto” Mazzone , the Italian coach with the record of benches in Serie A (792 official), on many occasions has spent wonderful words towards the “Divin codino” and in a post on istagram I tell his desire for Brescia, the team where Baggio ended his career.
The “Raffaello” of football was able to set the game maneuverand to provide assists to his teammates, he was quick to dodge and shoot . He won the ” FIFA World Playe r” and the ” Golden Ball ” in 1993 and the inaugural edition of the ” Golden Foot ” in 2003. He is in 16th place (first Italian) in the ranking of the best players of the twentieth century published by World Soccer in 1999, and was included by Pele in the ” FIFA 100 “: the list of the 125 greatest living footballers, published in 2004. He has been in the Italian football Hall of Fame since 2011 and in the Sports Walk of Fame Italian since 2015.
Baggio made the history of Italian football and therefore also of the national team, to the point that today, in Coverciano , the football museum celebrates him by exhibiting somerelics of his career in the blue jersey:
In 2001, Baggio publishes ” A door in the sky “: his own biography where he traces the career, the path of Fede and the relationships with the coaches , some of which are more complicated: those with Arrigo Sacchi, Renzo Ulivieri and Marcello Lippi, others more idyllic: those with Giovanni Trapattoni, Luigi Simoni, Luigi Maifredi, Oscar Tabarez and Carlo Mazzone.
A film was also dedicated to him: ” Divin codino “, distributed by Netflix, in which he talks about the footballer, but also the man Roberto Baggio : his most fragile sides, his relationship with his family, his path in Buddhism.
The road of Faithof the football player, formerly Catholic, has in fact taken a turning point with his adhesion to the Soka Gakkai up to the inauguration, in Corsico, of the largest Buddhist cultural center in Europe.
Among his passions are agriculture , he owns a farm in Argentina, and hunting .
His social commitment is important, including as FAO ambassador .
On November 9, 2010, Baggio received the ” Peace Summit Award 2010 “, an award awarded annually by a commission made up of Nobel Peace Laureates.to the personality most committed to those most in need, for “its strong and constant commitment to world peace and related international activities”.
So it is not surprising that today, on her birthday , there are so many to wish him well, starting with his eldest daughter, Valentina , who has published a letter in which she lists the many reasons why she is in love with her father Di she.
And then again: the social messages from the world of football
Greetings on Twitter from some of the teams where he played:
In his career, in addition to the many awards, Baggio has won two Scudetti , an Italian Cup anda UEFA Cup. He got over and got back on his feet after serious problems in his right knee , battered by 220 internal stitches, an injury healed not as much as that of Trapattoni’s failure to call for the 2002 World Cup “Playing that World Cup is something that football owed me and maybe that’s why I moved away from the world of football ”he said in 2019 at the Trento Sports Festival.
