Roberto Baggio

This Italian forward made his mark across the world during the 1994 World Cup in the US. His admirers grew as the campaign went on, and in the finals, he was one of the favorites, in Italy vs. Brazil. But in this one game, the number of fans that loved him in such a short time dropped just as fast. The first time there were penalty kicks in the World Cup finals, and Roberto Baggio had to make the penalty kick to keep his team alive in sudden death penalties. Unfortunately for him, his kick was not on the mark and flew above the bar.

Born in 1967, Baggio joined Vicenza but it was under his second manager there, Bruno Giorgi, that he was noticed. After helping Vicenzia climb the league ladder to Serie B, he joined Fiorentina in Serie A.

A slow start, and an early injury kept him on the sidelines, but Baggio soon made his mark as a class forward in the club, helping them reach the UEFA Cup finals, but losing to Juventus.

Juventus saw his talent and quickly took the player for 7.5 million pounds, which created riots in the city.

The World Cup in '94 saw Baggio rise to fame, but also his career went downhill for a while right after the finals. Juventus saw him as a surplus, supporting Del Piero as the main striker, and asked Baggio to take a pay cut or find another club.

Baggio went to AC Milan, where he played the role of a substitute, and though he had very good goals, he did not get the recognition he deserved from his manager, Capello.

To prove his critics right, he moved to Bologna, an average club in Serie A, and scored 22 goals for them.

A positive show in his limited role during France '98 and an excellent career in Bologna saw Baggio's career come back, and he was bought by Inter Milan.

An all star cast at Inter Milan was mired with injuries to Baggio and his teammates, which kept this team from achieving their potential.

He lost his place in the starting lineup but even then, he didn't lose his form and was called up for the Euro 2000 squad and reached the finals to play against France.

In a similar motive that led Baggio to join Bologna, he joined Brescia who was just promoted to the Serie A. There he kept Brescia in the league for three seasons, scoring 33 goals in 70 appearances. This would be Baggio's last club, as he has announced his retirement from football after the 2003/04 season.