Soccer, coined by Pele as the beautiful game has rarely seen a player as graceful as Roberto Baggio on and off the field. The Italian superstar rose to great heights with his stints with Italy in the World Cups and the various clubs he played for. Burst into the scene with his wonder goal in Italia 90 and never looked back ever since.
In World Cup ’94, Roberto’s ponytail and his excellent goals brought him a lot of supporters. He became an idol to me ever since. I was impressed by the courage shown by him to take a crucial penalty after missing one in the World Cup finals, to move to newly promoted club Brescia and medium sized Bologna to prove that he was not finished and successfully doing that. I admire this wizard with a soccer ball, and one of the most exciting soccer players in the world.
Despite being the target of several coaches’ egos who took joy in benching the star player, he remained patient and continues to be one of Italy’s best players. Baggio’s brilliant career is now at its twilight and the one and only Roberto Baggio, who was once sold from Fiorentina for a then record $17 million to Juventus (and caused riots in Florence, where Fiorentina plays), is still one of the brightest stars in the Italian Serie A’s horizon and will remain the same in the hearts of millions of soccer lovers for a long time.