Roberto Baggio — The wounded healer
Rethinking Arsenal’s 2023 ‘failure’
I’ve tried to write a piece on il divin codino (the divine ponytail, as he was lovingly dubbed) for years. I thought of waiting until May 2024 to mark twenty years since his retirement. However, I was sparked into action to write it now for a tangentially related reason: ‘failure’. The recent culmination of the 2022/23 football season saw my team, Arsenal, have a great campaign. However, they still fell comfortably second behind [Sportswash FC] Manchester City. I reflected on how and why the season still brought immeasurable joy. Much more even, dare I say, than when Arsenal actually won the league (1998, 2002, 2004 — the last of which coincidentally occurred in the same month that Baggio retired!). This paradox led me back to Baggio.
Even though he scored 71/79 penalties in his career, and 6/7 for Italy, he missed one in the biggest game of all — a World Cup final. He ‘failed’. He ‘bottled’ it. But he didn’t, did he? He almost single leg-ly dragged Italy to that match. And if anything, he was even more adored because of the miss. Not through pity, but by celebration of what he represented: a wounded healer.
Others (Storey, 2015; Nicholson, 2021) have written far more eloquently and in detail than I will about his biography. In this piece, using my reflections on Arsenal’s ‘failure’ as a springboard, I’m much clearer on why I adored, and continue to adore, Baggio so much.
World Cup 1994
I was too young to recall that goal versus Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup in Italy that introduced Baggio to a global audience. This solo effort was referred to by the late John Motson as the best goal he ever covered (and he sure did cover a lot of goals):
“He was the home nation’s pin-up boy. Slalom through about four defenders before clipping it in. Mesmerising stuff” — John Motson (Walters, 2023).
Like most UK based football fans of my generation, thanks to Channel 4’s outstanding coverage led by James Richardson, I consumed all things Italian football during the 90s. At the 1994 World Cup in the USA, I watched Baggio, not long after he’d been voted as Ballon d’or winner, suffer an embarrassing start against the Republic of Ireland and Norway. But I then saw him score (what I deemed to be annoying) goal after goal during the knockouts, leading Italy to the sun soaked final in Pasadena, against Brazil. I was actually supporting the Brazilians during that tournament, you see. I thought the way the bright yellow shirts contrasted against the blue shorts was cool. Plus, the majority of the Brazilian players’ skin colours reflected my own. Much more than the Italians, including Baggio. I remember how excited I would get seeing an Asian on TV in the 1990s (with the current [June 2023] incumbent Tory cabinet, I’m now sick of the sight of fellow Asians on the TV!). To my 9-year-old mind, many of the Brazilians were ‘Asian’ enough! Romario could easily have been one of my uncles, grizzling in the corner of the living room at a family gathering, scotch in one hand, chicken wing in the other.
Baggio, with his olive skin, green eyes and ponytail was too ‘exotic’ and beautiful for my liking! Annoyingly, he kept scoring late, meaningful, goals, sometimes from near impossible angles at pace. Watching the final with my mum, late into Sunday evening UK time, I rejoiced when Baggio skied his penalty. The next day in school I celebrated the Brazilian triumph, decorating a cereal box with all my singularly named heroes: Romario, Bebeto, Dunga.
(Re)Discovery
Watching Italian football the season after, something changed. Baggio had a stop-start campaign, but still won the league with Juventus. I started reading more, and learning about his past. Here was a Nichiren Buddhist in a staunchly Catholic nation. A teenage prodigy who suffered such horrific knee injuries that doctors feared he may never walk again, let alone kick a ball. Absorbing all I could about his biography, I became enamoured. We even almost shared a birthday. Mine being the 17th February, his the 18th. To a 9-year-old, that was a huge deal! I never got to see him consistently at his prime between 1990–1993. I went back to watch the 1994 World Cup highlights on VHS, constantly. All those late goals that had seemed annoying to me now felt miraculous. From what I know about fandom, reflecting decades on, what a counterintuitive way it was for a child to (re)discover their favourite footballer! (I’d be curious to hear from readers if anyone has had a similar experience with another sportsperson…)
Enigmatic
As discussed in this beautiful and aptly titled ode — Roberto Baggio: every footballer we’ve ever loved at once (These Football Times, 2021) — Baggio was about more than victory or defeat. He was an artist. A 9 1/2, as Platini once referred to him in terms of position, he could do it all in the attacking third, including rabonas to cross (I recall falling over arse over head into the gravel in the schoolyard in attempts to do them).
Voted the greatest goal in Channel 4’s Serie A coverage, this beauty against Juventus wasn’t even a winner, ‘only’ a late equaliser. That again is testament to how what Baggio did was more than about results; it was about beauty and creating memories.
“The angels sing in his legs” — former Fiorentina manager, Aldo Agroppi (Areabi, 2017).
That said, he enjoyed success and was feted: two Scudetto titles, a UEFA cup, Ballon d’or, world’s most expensive player. He also played for the biggest clubs in Italy: Fiorentina, Juventus, AC and Inter Milan. But he belongs to all and none of them. Baggio was an enigma. Here was a rugged individualist, about whom never has a bad word been spoken by a fellow player.
“I had been lucky enough to play with great players, but Baggio was special in so many ways. I played with Laudrup, Romario, Koeman, Ronaldo, Stoichkov but I never saw anyone like Baggio” — Pep Guardiola (Areabi, 2017).
Farewell
My cousin Sonia, a fellow Baggio ‘ultra’, and I managed to see the great man live in action only once — during his final match, 16 May 2004. It was for Brescia against Milan at the iconic San Siro. Milan had already sealed the league, so there was a carnivalesque atmosphere amongst the 80,000+ attendees. It was a sweltering day, with hosepipes periodically spraying cold water into the crowd! Milan won 4–2 in an open encounter that had the feel of an exhibition match. Baggio was subbed shortly before the final whistle to grant him a deserved moment of appreciation from all. It was an emotional scene, with many of the Milan players embracing him on his long walk to the dugout. As Baggio himself noted, it perfectly encapsulated his entire career — adulation and gratitude from the fans, regardless of team affiliation.
“It was an honour to meet you as an opponent and a privilege to have you as a teammate” — Paolo Maldini in 2017 (Areabi, 2017).
Wounded healer
“The shamanistic journey creates wholeness by dismembering the shaman. The dark night of the soul involves being ripped apart, facing death and/or demons, then being put back together again” (Mason, 2011).
A wounded healer, Baggio scored 220 league goals; one for every stich in the ligament surgery he underwent for his right knee, aged 18 (Storey, 2015). His emotional impact upon others can be seen not only in the eulogies dotted throughout above, but also that he had an Opera (2004) written about him! Not many (any?!) footballers could possibly have enjoyed such a gesture? There was also a recent Netflix biopic (2021) about his career. It was uneven and received mixed reviews, but it gave him some greatly deserved spotlight (the accompanying interview Baggio did for Netflix is well worth a watch, more so than the biopic itself). I think the film and interview suitably capture how he symbolises more than just kicking a ball around. His is a story of grace, determination, beauty, individualism, and courage. It’s for these characteristics that he continues to be adored. Similar to how my initial fandom of Baggio occurred in a curious, after the fact, manner, this article too was prompted by a tangential occurrence; namely, that of Arsenal ‘bottling’ the league. This piece has admittedly, and against my better judgement, been chock-full of cliches. Permit me a last one: winning really isn’t everything.
P.S. Related to the theme of not winning above, an ex-colleague and friend, Marcus Elliott (2017), wrote a wonderfully vulnerable piece reflecting on his own sporting journey and injuries to himself and others in ‘how not to come first’.
Bibliography
** 25 August 2023: since publishing this piece in June 2023, UK based musician Miles Kane has produced a moving track and accompanying short film about his fellow love for Baggio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfpa0akMi9c
Areabi, J. (2017, February 27). The Impossible Made Possible: 50 Quotes on Baggio. Fantasista 10. Available at: https://www.fantasista10.co.uk/the-impossible-made-possible-50-quotes-on-baggio/
Bell, H. (2021, Oct 2). Fiorentina v Napoli: when Roberto Baggio faced Diego Maradona. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-gentleman-ultra/2021/oct/02/fiorentina-napoli-roberto-baggio-diego-maradona-serie-a-italy
Elliott, M. (2017, March 31). How not to come first. Available at: https://marcuselliott.co.uk/blog/2017/03/31/not-come-first/
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Gates, E. (2021, April 1). Remembering Roberto Baggio’s greatest goal 20 years later. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-gentleman-ultra/2021/apr/01/roberto-baggio-greatest-goal-20-years-later-brescia-juventus
Gates, E. (2017, February 17). Roberto Baggio at 50: celebrating his five greatest free-kicks. The Guardian. Available at:https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-gentleman-ultra/2017/feb/17/roberto-baggio-50-free-kicks-milan-juventus-brescia-inter
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Walters, M. (2023, February 23). John Motson admitted he was “sad” about the single regret from his iconic career. The Mirror. Available at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/john-motson-dead-bbc-commentator-29291100
