5 – Roberto Baggio
Even playing in a single tournament, and not always as a starter, the greatest Italian striker since Giuseppe Meazza manages to take a place in this list. Roberto Baggio started in the first two games of the 1998 World Cup and created two assists, earned and converted one penalty, and had a goal disallowed for offside. In the third game he started from the bench, but still managed to score once he came on.
He was left on the bench for the first knock-out game against Norway, and started as a sub in the quarter-finals against France. When he came on, he made good his few minutes by showing some beautiful football and coming close to winning the game, with a beautiful shot that extinguished itself just wide of the post.
With his two goals in 1998, Baggio became the only Italian to have scored in three World Cups. As for his technical qualities, there is nothing to describe that isn’t implicit in his presence on this list. Who else but Roberto Baggio could make it on a Top 10 strikers of the decade with only two games played as a starter?
Roberto Baggio remains my best ever Italian player.
Roberto Baggio = TRUE LEGEND