Baggio recalls the loss points in the 1994 World Cup final: I really wanted to die at that time 😢

In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Baggio recalled the 1994 World Cup in the United States and talked about his life after retirement.

"The whole World Cup is not just about us being affected by the heat, it's incredibly hot, we have to go beyond the limits of humanity to play. Nevertheless, we are driven by passion and a desire for victory, and many Italian immigrants living there are proud of us, and we feel this as a team, which gives us the extra motivation to overcome difficulties."

But in that famous final, Baresi lost a penalty and Massaro failed to hit, and even if Baggio scored a penalty, it might not help the result. That day, Baggio lost more than just a game. The penalty kick was unreasonable because Baggio always chose to shoot low, but this time he played high. He can always hit it, but this time not. Baggio said: "At that moment, if I had a knife, I would stab myself. If I had a gun, I would shoot myself. I really wanted to die at that time, that's it."

Since then, Baggio has been carrying that moment, but he didn't fall down, he played for another 10 years, and the fans did not forgive him because there was nothing to forgive. On the contrary, the fans loved him more. So when Baggio retired in 2004, Italian football seemed to have lost something, as singer Cesare Cremonini sang, it was no longer the past. After retiring, Baggio passed the coaching exam, but he said: "I have never taken this matter seriously." Guardiola once said that if he comes to work in Italy one day, he hopes Baggio can join his team. However, Baggio only briefly served as the head of the technical department with the Italian Football Association and wrote a 900-page report on Italian youth training reform.

Baggio said: "Our most important goal is to train people, not just train players. Not everyone can become professional players, but everyone will become a complete person. This is the basis of our work." Unfortunately, Baggio's report has not been paid attention to by the Italian Football Association. He also left the Football Association in 2013 and has not entered the football world for a long time since then, and has not returned until recently.

Was that Baggio still paying attention to football? He replied: "Of course, I often watch a lot of exciting clips online, including Italy, Argentina, England, South American League, especially Brazil and Argentina, and sometimes Chile or Paraguay. I will follow people I know, such as Martin Palermo, who coaches the Olympia Club (based in Asuncion), and I want to see how he is now and whether everything goes well."

Regarding whether I will still participate in football management, Baggio said: "I think at some point in my life, it should be time to enjoy family life, get close to my family, enjoy simple things, and most importantly, do things that I have never done in nearly 40 years. So I chose freedom, which is priceless."