page_title: Roberto Baggio
section_title: 1998–2000: Inter Milan
hierarchical_section_title: Roberto Baggio / Club career / 1998–2000: Inter Milan
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Бутсы Роберто Баджо в музее Сан-Сиро.
context_page_description: Roberto Baggio is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former president of the technical sector of the Italian Football Federation. A technically gifted, creative playmaker, and a set piece specialist, renowned for his curling free-kicks, dribbling skills, and goalscoring, Baggio is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. In 1999, he came fourth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, and was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002. In 1993, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players.
  Baggio played for Italy in 56 matches, scoring 27 goals, and is the joint fourth-highest goalscorer for his national team, alongside Alessandro Del Piero. He starred in the Italian team that finished third in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice. At the 1994 World Cup, he led Italy to the final, scoring five goals, received the World Cup Silver Ball and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team.
context_section_description: After the 1998 World Cup, Baggio signed with his favourite childhood club Inter Milan in order to compete in the UEFA Champions League. However, this proved to be an unfortunate move, as after injuries, disappointing results and several managerial changes throughout the season (including Luigi Simoni, Mircea Lucescu and Roy Hodgson), Baggio struggled to gain playing time, and was used out of position as a winger, often as a substitute. Baggio scored 5 goals and provided 10 assists in 23 appearances during the 1998–99 season, as Inter finished in eighth place, missing out on a European spot. He helped Inter to a Coppa Italia semi-final, losing out to eventual winners Parma. Baggio scored a goal against his former club Bologna in a European play-off match, but Inter lost both matches, failing to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Baggio also scored four goals in the Champions League, helping lead Inter through the qualifying rounds to the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by eventual winners Manchester United, also scoring a memorable brace against defending champions Real Madrid in the group stage.
  In the 1999–2000 season, Baggio's former manager at Juventus, Marcello Lippi, was appointed as Inter's new coach. Lippi did not favour Baggio and left him out of the squad for most of the season, stating Baggio was out of shape. In his autobiography, Baggio stated Lippi had dumped him after Baggio refused to point out which of Inter's players had expressed negative opinions about the coach, also highlighting an incident during a training session where he called out Christian Vieri and Christian Panucci for applauding Baggio for a notable assist.
  Baggio was used scarcely and often as a substitute, scoring only 4 goals in 18 appearances during the regular Serie A season. He made five appearances in the Coppa Italia, with his only goal coming against local rivals A.C. Milan in the second leg of the quarter-finals, as he helped Inter reach the final, only to be defeated by Lazio. Despite his limited playing time, Baggio still managed several important goals to help Inter to a fourth-place finish, alongside Parma, such as his match winning goal against Hellas Verona, which he scored after coming off the bench, after being excluded from the team since 18 December 1999. Baggio had also previously helped to set up Inter's equaliser during the match. This was the first time Baggio had scored for Inter since his goal on 27 May of the previous season, and in the post-match the interview, he denied accusations made by Lippi in regard to his personal form.
  Baggio's last important contribution to Inter was scoring two memorable goals against Parma in the play-off match for the last remaining Champions League place, which Inter won 3–1; Lippi had been forced to field Baggio due to several injuries. Baggio was given a perfect 10 rating from the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, which described his performance as "absolutely perfect all game". This match is considered an example of professionalism shown by Baggio, as Inter president Massimo Moratti had stated Lippi would only stay on if the team qualified for the Champions League.
caption: Baggio's Diadora boots in the San Siro museum, home of Inter and A.C. Milan
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