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#3 Roberto Baggio
The next player on our list is the classy Italian, Roberto Baggio. Baggio achieved a lot with his national side and he was equally successful at the club level. The Italian would surely go down as one of the classiest to ever grace the football pitch. But, could he have been even better? As jaw-dropping as it may seem, the answer to it is in the affirmative.
The Italian was plagued by knee issues ever since he was 18. By the time he was playing for Brescia at the start of the 21st century, he was in such a bad state that he couldn’t walk for two days after playing a match. The latter part of his career was characterized by him having loads of painkillers to sustain his knee and turn out for his team.
Despite a dodgy knee throughout his career, Baggio won the Ballon d’Or in 1993 and led his country to the World Cup final in 1994. Additionally, he won a whole host of domestic trophies with Juventus.
If one compiles a list of the greatest Italians to have stepped onto a football pitch, Baggio would certainly figure at the forefront of that discussion. However, there was an opportunity for him to be the undisputed torch-bearer of Italian football, a chance which was cruelly taken away from him due to injuries. Thus, he makes it to the Top 3 of our list.
