Roberto Baggio: A Career Plagued by Injuries

He was the best of his time. The early 90s in football were marked by the name of Italian Roberto Baggio, who reached his peak in 1993 when he won the Ballon d'Or, and came very close to winning the World Cup the following year, although incredibly, he missed his penalty kick in the final shootout against Brazil. From then on, his career went downhill, not only because of that episode, but also due to a series of injuries that didn't allow him to return to his best level. Even before shining, injuries were already accompanying him, and in fact, they led him to contemplate death.

Baggio, who played for Fiorentina, Juventus, Milan, and Inter, among other teams, explained that he lived with pain throughout his career and that his first injury left him extremely affected, during his participation in the Sports Festival organized by 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' in Trento.

"At that moment, I asked my mother to kill me. I told her 'Mom, if you love me, kill me'," said Baggio, who was injured in May 1985 shortly after signing with Fiorentina from Vicenza.

That serious injury required a complicated operation, in years when medical technology did not yet have the resources it has today, with the perforation of the tibia and the use of 200 internal stitches, recalled the Italian former player.

For Baggio, it was the beginning of a hell of injuries, with problems in the meniscus and the tendon of the right knee, and a new cruciate ligament tear, this time in the left knee, suffered in 2002 while playing for Brescia.

These experiences, Baggio explained, led him to embrace Buddhism in 1985.

"I was looking for something that would make me understand that everything depended on me. I used to blame others. I was the victim and others were responsible for my suffering. Buddhism helped me understand that everything begins with me," he said.

In his appearance at the Sports Festival, Baggio also expressed his gratitude to the Fiorentina fans, who always supported him despite his long months out due to injuries.

His departure from the Florentine club to join historic rival Juventus was accompanied by harsh controversies, but Baggio considered that this was caused by the lack of clarity from the club's management, which no longer considered him a key part of the sports project. EFE

► Neymar wanted to play for Real Madrid: the four phone calls to Santiago Bernabeu players to let them know

► An opportunity that cannot be missed: James Rodriguez finds joy again at Real Madrid

► We were happy and didn't know it: the top 20 childhood players who retired in 2019 [PHOTOS]

► Approved? The leaked three Barcelona shirts for 2020-21