Baggio: Three Italy World Cup eliminations ‘not easy to digest’

Italy legend Roberto Baggio still carries a ‘weight’ for missing a decisive penalty kick against Brazil in the 1994 World Cup Final: ‘I lost three World Cups on penalties, not easy to digest.’

Italy legend Baggio said his penalty kick miss in the 1994 World Cup Final was “the greatest bitterness of my football career.”

“I grew up with the dream of a World Cup Final against Brazil. I don’t have a clear memory of why this goal has stayed with me since I was very young, through my entire life,” Baggio told Forbes Italia via Gazzetta.

“I have always considered myself an ordinary person. Just like everyone else. I never saw myself as special. I only had this uncontrollable passion for football. A passion that stirs something inside you from morning to night. I slept with the ball.

“I would have given up everything else to win that World Cup. I was representing Italy. It was the goal I was always chasing. The last thought before going to sleep was how to win that World Cup. Maybe by scoring a bicycle kick.

“Then it turned out in a way I never would have imagined, and I will never be able to forget it. Just one step away from the finish line. The greatest bitterness of my football career, an unbelievable personal tragedy, I still carry that weight inside me.”

Baggio took part in three World Cups. The Azzurri finished third in 1990, runners-up in 1994 and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual winners France in 1998.

“I played in three World Cups. In Italy [1990], we finished third, winning six matches and drawing one. I lost three World Cups on penalties, not easy to digest,” he concluded.