Dino Baggio

Dino Baggio (born 24 July 1971) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Throughout his career, he played for several Italian clubs, and won the UEFA Cup three times, twice with Parma and once with Juventus.

He also had a spell in England with Blackburn Rovers.

With Torino, he won the 1989–90 Serie B title, followed by the 1991 Mitropa Cup.

At international level, he obtained 60 caps for Italy between 1991 and 1999, scoring seven goals, and was part of the team that reached the final of the 1994 FIFA World Cup; he later also represented Italy at UEFA Euro 1996, and at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Despite sharing a last name, he has no relation to fellow Italian former footballer and teammate Roberto Baggio.

Baggio began his football career at age five in Tombolo, a province of Padova.

He was spotted by Torino scouts at the age of 13 and taken into the Torino youth system.

He made his debut in Serie A as a 19-year-old against Lazio and became a regular member of the starting line-up, making a name for himself as a promising youngster.

He emerged as a tenacious, hardworking, consistent, and versatile defensive midfielder during his time at the club, who was capable of playing in several positions.

He was loaned to Inter Milan at the age of 20 in 1991 for the 1991–92 season, making 27 appearances and scoring 1 goal.

At the end of the 1991–92 season, Juventus bought the promising youngster for 10 billion Italian Lire, and during his time at the club, Dino Baggio would play alongside his unrelated namesake Roberto Baggio for two seasons, forming a notable friendship; Dino was often called "Baggio 2" or "the other Baggio" earlier on in his career, to distinguish the two players, as he was younger, and initially less well-known.

As Dino Baggio had previously played for city rivals Torino, however, the Juventus fans were not initially pleased by the transfer.

His solid and consistent play soon won them over, however, and he quickly became a mainstay in the Juventus midfield, winning the UEFA Cup in 1993, scoring three goals over the two legs of the final; one of his goals came in the first leg, while the other two came in the return leg.

He also helped Juventus to a second-place finish in Serie A during the 1993–94 season.

After Baggio's performances in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and with Juventus, Parma attempted to acquire the midfielder.

Baggio initially rejected Parma's offer, stating his intention to stay at Juventus.

At the time, Juventus were ready to offer Parma a young forward named Alessandro Del Piero instead of Baggio, in order to retain their defensive midfielder; Parma accepted the offer, but before the transfer could be finalised, Dino Baggio changed his mind, and decided he would make the move to Parma.

Del Piero stayed with Juventus, and the following season he underwent a breakthrough with the club, later going on to become a club legend.

Baggio moved to Parma at the beginning of the 1994–95 season for 14 billion Lire.

During his first season with his new club under Nevio Scala, he immediately won the UEFA Cup, for the second time in his career, scoring a goal in each leg of the 1995 final against his former team, Juventus, increasing his UEFA Cup Final goal tally to five goals.

He also reached the final of the Coppa Italia that season, losing out to his former club, also narrowly missing on the Serie A title to his former club, once again, finishing the league season in third place.

Despite their European success under Malesani, Parma were unable to win the Serie A title during these years, with their best finish occurring during the 1996–97 season, where they managed a second-place finish, under manager Carlo Ancelotti.

In a match during the 1998–99 UEFA Cup, Baggio was wounded in the head by a knife thrown by a Wisła Kraków supporter in Kraków, which resulted in Wisła being suspended from European cup play for a year.

He would go on to win his third UEFA Cup that season, over Olympique Marseille, also winning the Coppa Italia over Fiorentina, followed by the 1999 Supercoppa Italiana over 1998–99 Serie A champions Milan.

Baggio stayed with Parma until the end of the 1999–2000 season, helping the club to a fourth-place finish, and narrowly missing out on an UEFA Champions League spot following a play-off defeat to Inter.

During his final season with the club, he also gained notoriety for a particular incident in a home match against his former club, Juventus, on 9 January 2000.

Baggio committed a foul on Gianluca Zambrotta, and was shown a controversial straight red card by referee Stefano Farina.

In protest, Baggio made the "money sign" towards the referee, and subsequently spat on the ground close to Farina.

Baggio was criticised for his behaviour, and was handed a two match ban, in addition to being fined 20 million lire, by his club, for the gesture.

He was also prevented by Luciano Nizzola, the FIGC president at the time, from taking part in Italy's friendly match against Sweden, on 23 February 2000.

In October 2000, Baggio was sold to the newly crowned Serie A champions Lazio for 10 billion Italian lire, along with Nestor Sensini.

He was utilized very little during his time at the club in the 2001–02 and the 2002–03 seasons, and the club failed to win any silverware.

At the beginning of the 2003–04 season, he was in talks with English club Wolverhampton, who were newly promoted to the FA Premier League, over a possible loan deal, but negotiations fell through; he was eventually loaned to English club Blackburn Rovers for the season in September 2003, following an impressive trial with the team.

He made his first appearance for the club as a substitute in a 3–1 home defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League on 13 September, while his first start for the team came on 24 September, in a 3–1 away defeat to Gençlerbirliği, in the first round of the UEFA Cup; the following month, the team exited the competition following a 1–1 draw in the second leg, during which Baggio made a substitute appearance, replacing compatriot Corrado Grabbi.

Baggio's manager at Blackburn, Graeme Souness, employed him in an unfamiliar forward role occasion, however, which had a negative impact on his performances.

Baggio made 9 appearances for the club in total, scoring once in the league in a 2–1 defeat against Leeds United.

Due to his negative performances throughout the first half of the season, Souness attempted to have Baggio return to Italy on loan to newly promoted Serie A side Ancona in January 2004, but the player initially rejected the deal.

Soon afterwards, however Lazio loaned him out to Ancona.

He made 15 appearances and scored 2 goals, but Ancona finished dead last.