"Football can drive you crazy..."

Original article from France Football, published in 1993.

Was it not a surprise for you?

Despite all the media hype in Italy these last few weeks around the Ballon d'Or and my name, and even though I truly hoped to win this supreme reward this year, I do not delude myself. I repeat: at no point did I believe victory was secured before the official announcement. It is my way of functioning. Between hoping and believing, there is a difference, isn't there?

You were nevertheless voted in by a landslide, even though you hadn't obtained a single point last year.

The Ballon d'Or, as you know, is dependent on the team's results. Last year, with Juventus, things hadn't gone too well, whereas in 1993...

It was the year of Juve and the year of Baggio!

I think the five goals I scored during the semi-finals and final of the UEFA Cup struck people's minds. There were also important goals for the national team's qualification for the World Cup. I knew how to take advantage of the situation.

Without Juve's performances, you might not be the Ballon d'Or, but without Baggio, Juve certainly wouldn't be what it is, so...

Season after season, I progress. (He pauses) It is my big year, the best of all, it's true. It was also Juve's best year since I have been playing here. And if I have improved so much, if I have become much more of a team player, it is actually because the whole team has progressed. If Juventus plays better, it is not solely thanks to one player, but to the work of everyone that they owe it.

To Baggio, a bit more than to the others?

To Baggio like the others, and that's it. It's also true regarding the national selection.

Nine and a half suits me fine!

Your Ballon d'Or title comes eleven years after that of the last Italian winner, Paolo Rossi, in 1982, after Italy's last World Cup victory. At the time, you were a young player full of promise. Was Rossi one of your role models?

We are too different, him and I. Paolo was a fox in the box, a much more opportunistic player than I can be.

You are neither a classic midfielder nor a true striker...

I know that. Which doesn't prevent me, depending on the situation, from acting as a playmaker or stepping into the shoes of a center-forward. (Mischievously) I don't think that can be a flaw.

Finally, are you an extraordinary player?

I can play anywhere. As Platini said, nine and a half suits me fine, OK!

I don't always take pleasure...

One cannot say you are the archetype of the Italian footballer. How do you manage to combine the flair of your game with the rigor of Calcio?

Whatever your qualities, it is very difficult to play and establish yourself in Italy. The presence of very great foreign players, the best in the world, raises the level. Every match has become a final or almost. It's not for nothing if our Championship is the perfect indicator of a player's value. You can be the king at home and demonstrate nothing here. You have no right to make a mistake.

And yet?

For me and others, who base our expression on technique, there is more risk of missing our mark, given the defensive organization. The zone, offside, pressing—everything is set up to prevent you from expressing yourself.

Do you regret it...

(Smiling) That's what Calcio demands.

And is that what you want too?

I don't know if the game could truly be different.

Do you still take pleasure?

(Whispered) Not all the time. You have to know that flair and pleasure come second as soon as there is an obligation to win. In Italy, that's how it is.

Elsewhere then, would we see the real Baggio?

Elsewhere, it is certainly less rigorous because the match doesn't have the same weight. Here, even against the bottom teams, it's war. In Italy, it's more difficult than anywhere else.

And even a player like you cannot express himself freely...

It's true, I am a bit stifled, but no more or less than the others. It's simply that football has changed. Changed a lot, even. No one is safe from a poor performance anymore. Consequently, you can no longer take as much pleasure.

You aren't going to tell us that only rigor leads to results?

Of course not, but I know full well that football has evolved. It is no longer technique that decides the outcome of a match; it's tactics. Sometimes, it is enough to be well-organized to pose difficulties to an opponent who is far superior to you.

You seem resigned...

Realistic. I adapt. Today, I am the Ballon d'Or winner and appreciated as such, but if I don't score in the next three or four matches, they will say I've got a big head or that after this award I no longer want to push myself. That's Italy for you!

You are exaggerating!

Not at all. After our victory in the UEFA Cup, we lost against Piacenza in the Championship. In the next match, against Lazio at home, we were booed. Our fans, like the press, were already no longer thinking about our European success.

What is the problem then?

My problem is my direct opponents, those who, because they are playing against me, want to rise to the occasion and do everything they can to succeed. If I arrive a bit tired, I can no longer fight on equal terms. You aren't forgiven for taking the time to stop a bit, to enjoy a victory or a trophy.

What place do you want to give to pleasure from now on?

At the start, football was entertainment; today, for me as for others, it has become a job. A job like any other. Perhaps more demanding than any other!

"Trapattoni or Sacchi, I adapt..."

You mentioned earlier knowing how to adapt. Between Trapattoni, the classic, and Sacchi...

I adapt. But it's not because Juve's game is so different from the national team's. It's mainly the opponents who don't react the same way. Calcio is a world apart. Let's say I think I have understood what both expect of me and I try to satisfy them without forgetting that football is also about flair.

It's not possible to be at 100% all year playing so often.

Unfortunately, the repetition of effort is such and the opposition so tough that it's inevitable to have highs and lows. Which doesn't prevent them from putting you on trial at the slightest defeat. That is another constant of Calcio.

An "ordinary person"

In France, and even in Italy, we don't know much about you.

I don't like showing off or posing for TV. I don't like talking much either. I prefer to train. In fact, we don't have time to think about it. The better it goes for the player, the better it is for his career and his club.

Do you avoid journalists?

Not really. But playing every three days, I hardly have any time left. On the other hand, don't count on me to fuel a controversy. In those cases, I stay silent.

In any case, that doesn't hurt your popularity...

I’ve learned to live with it... But don’t think it weighs on me. In my daily life, I am an ordinary person. I live like millions of others, except I have a public job. So, when I walk down the street, I am constantly stopped, everyone wants to talk to me, everyone wants an autograph; I manage because it's part of my obligations...

Really?

I have a completely normal private life. I go to restaurants, to the cinema, I don't hide. At least, I don't feel like I do.

Star of Calcio and Mr. Average Joe...

It all depends on your balance and the people around you. Granted, I travel constantly, I earn a lot of money, I am famous, and I don't live as much as I’d like with my family, but otherwise... Football can drive you crazy; you just have to know it.

And do you know it?

I’ve learned to know it...

"With Buddhism, I’ve found my balance"

What do you mean?

I am not the spoiled child I am portrayed as. I’ve been through a lot...

Are you talking about your surgeries?

I’ve had three operations, two of them in France. In Italy, all the doctors, all the professors I consulted assured me I was finished for football. But inside myself, I knew it wasn’t possible. Even in my hospital bed, I always thought I’d make it, that I’d come back.

And you were the only one who believed it...

And most often, the only one training. Yes, all alone, in the sun or the rain. That lasted two years. And even if sometimes I didn’t quite understand what was happening to me or why I was there, I hung on.

This inner strength, did you find it in religion?

I found the balance and well-being necessary to fight through difficult times, to keep believing in myself and the goals I had set. That was the time I started practicing Buddhism...

Buddhist in the land of Catholicism-king, flair player in the kingdom of rigor, introverted man among Latins, fan of Zico rather than Rivera, Mazzola, or even Maradona or Platini—do you cultivate the art of paradox with mischievous pleasure?

This Buddhism thing is very personal and I don’t really like talking about it. (Long silence) I respect others’ opinions, but I have my own. Like them, through contact with religion, I have been enriched and continue to be enriched. I now believe in the happiness within me, in my destiny... But if I know that Buddhism has changed me deep down, if I know it makes me happier, it hasn’t changed my behavior from the outside. It is truly my secret garden.

"The extraordinary player was Zico!"

Let’s talk about Zico then?

You talk about my flair, but it’s nothing compared to the Brazilian. He was not only an extraordinary player, but also a man like few you meet. He had that South American class that I appreciate. When he played for Udinese, I was in Vicenza, 150 kilometers away, and I’d sometimes go to see him play. I liked him more than any other player, but be careful! I wasn’t worshiping him or kneeling in front of the TV as soon as he appeared. It was more of a sensation than anything else. Something impossible to explain...

He was your role model!

Not even. At least, not in the sense usually understood. You can learn from Zico, as you can from Maradona, Platini, or others who aren't famous.

You mentioned titles to win. Do you think the Milanese reign is coming to an end?

Until now, it was logical that the Milanese monopolized the titles...

And it isn't anymore?

It’s a quite strange season. Even if, on paper, the Milanese are still the strongest, there are no more certainties because they don’t dominate the situation as much as in the past. Many teams can claim the Scudetto...

Juventus as much as others?

Yes, even if we often fight against ourselves. We have more to fear from ourselves than from our opponents. By our own fault, we’ve thrown away five or six points since the start of the Championship, and yet we are still in the running. It’s truly a strange season.

"The rifle, I just carry it and that’s it..."

You’ve established yourself in a national team that no longer doubts and will be in the United States for the 1994 World Cup...

We’ve changed our way of playing over the last two years. It was therefore natural that we encountered difficulties, and that’s why, in the middle of a transition, it was important to qualify. Now, I am convinced we will have a great World Cup...

Do you count yourselves among the favorites?

It’s always the same ones. There is Germany, Argentina, Brazil and...

And?

There is also Colombia.

And not Italy?

Yes, yes (He laughs). There are always surprises. In any case, apart from Saudi Arabia and Morocco, every match will be difficult.

Championship, European Cup, World Cup... Next year could be another Baggio year...

I simply hope to continue being as I am today, playing as I do. I don’t ask for much else, except to be left in peace and to continue, for example, going hunting.

You are a hunter and a Buddhist?

I know there is a paradox, but I am not a real hunter. It’s mostly to be alone, to get away from football. The rifle, I just carry it and that’s it...