Roberto Baggio

"The Divine Ponytail" redirects here. For the biographical film, see Baggio: The Divine Ponytail.

Roberto Baggio
OMRI
Baggio in 2013
Personal information
Full name Roberto Baggio[1]
Date of birth (1967-02-18) 18 February 1967 (age 57)[2]
Place of birth Caldogno, Italy[2]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward, attacking midfielder
Youth career
1974–1980 Caldogno
1980–1983 Vicenza
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1985 Vicenza 36 (13)
1985–1990 Fiorentina 94 (39)
1990–1995 Juventus 141 (78)
1995–1997 AC Milan 51 (12)
1997–1998 Bologna 30 (22)
1998–2000 Inter Milan 41 (9)
2000–2004 Brescia 95 (45)
Total 488 (218)
International career
1984 Italy U16[3] 4 (3)
1988–2004 Italy[4] 56 (27)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Italy
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1994 United States
Third place 1990 Italy
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roberto Baggio OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto ˈbaddʒo]; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions.[5] He is the former president of the technical sector of the Italian Football Federation. A technically gifted creative playmaker and set piece specialist, renowned for his curling free-kicks, dribbling skills, and goalscoring, Baggio is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.[nb 1]

In 1999, he came fourth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll,[20] and was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.[21] In 1993, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players.[22]

Baggio played for Italy in 56 matches, scoring 27 goals, and is the joint fourth-highest goalscorer for his national team, alongside Alessandro Del Piero. He starred in the Italian team that finished third in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice. At the 1994 World Cup, he led Italy to the final, scoring five goals, received the World Cup Silver Ball and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team. Although he was the star performer for Italy at the tournament, he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout of the final against Brazil.[7] At the 1998 World Cup, he scored twice before Italy were eliminated by eventual champions France in the quarter-finals. Baggio is the only Italian to score in three World Cups, and with nine goals holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup tournaments for Italy, along with Paolo Rossi and Christian Vieri.[23]

In 2002, Baggio became the first Italian player in over 50 years to score more than 300 career goals; he is the fifth-highest scoring Italian in all competitions with 318 goals. In 2004, during the final season of his career, Baggio became the first player in over 30 years to score 200 goals in Serie A, and is the seventh-highest goalscorer of all time in Serie A, with 205 goals.[24] In 1990, he moved from Fiorentina to Juventus for a world record transfer fee.[25] Baggio won two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, and a UEFA Cup, playing for seven different Italian clubs during his career (Vicenza, Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan, Bologna, Inter Milan, and Brescia).

Baggio is known as Il Divin Codino ("The Divine Ponytail"), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career, for his talent, and for his Buddhist beliefs.[26] In 2002, Baggio was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 2003, he was the inaugural winner of the Golden Foot award. In recognition of his human rights activism, he received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in 2010. In 2011, he was the first footballer to be inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 442" [Official Press Release No. 442] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 8 May 2001. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Baggio - Goals in Serie A was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Baggio 2001, pp. 49–59
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nazionale in cifre - FIGC: Baggio, Roberto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Andrea di Nicola (6 October 2001). "Del Piero, Totti e Baggio la fantasia al potere". La Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference FIFA 94 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b "A History of the Gala: Part I - European legends". FIFA. 13 December 2002. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  8. ^ "24-22: Baggio to Beckham". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  9. ^ "All-time Top 20: No. 7 Roberto Baggio". ESPN FC. 13 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  10. ^ Marcelo Leme de Arruda (14 December 2007). "AFS Top-100 Players of All-Time". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  11. ^ Marcelo Leme de Arruda (19 June 2009). "The Best of The Best". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Baggio: 'I wanted to die'". Football Italia. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  13. ^ Louis Massarella (5 November 2015). "Pele or Puskas? Maradona or Messi? Just who is the best No.10 of all-time?". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Three ex-Bianconeri number 10s in FIFA's all-time list". Juventus.com. 3 March 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  15. ^ Luke Chandley (1 April 2016). "Roberto Baggio: Transfers That Broke the Richter Scale". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  16. ^ Mario Sconcerti (28 March 2016). "Riva il migliore per i lettori di CM. Sconcerti: 'Ma Rivera era al suo livello'" (in Italian). Calciomercato.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  17. ^ Greg Murray (18 February 2018). "Baggio: The Divine Ponytail". Football Italia. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  18. ^ "Ravanelli elogia Baggio: "Il più forte di sempre"" (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference 16 May 2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "FIFA Player of the Century" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  21. ^ Marcelo Leme de Arruda (24 July 2014). "World All-Time Teams". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  22. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  23. ^ "10 Leggende Mondiali" [10 World Cup Legends] (in Italian). Eurosport. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  24. ^ "When Totti Surpassed Baggio". fantasista10.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  25. ^ "The history of the world transfer record". BBCSport. 1 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  26. ^ "Roberto Baggio: Italy's Finest no. 10". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2012.


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