Euroscene: Seventeen years ago, on a balmy May Sunday in Naples, I was privileged to have been among those who witnessed some hectic scenes as Napoli, Diego Armando Maradona et al drew 1-1 with Fiorentina to claim an historic first Serie A title, writes Paddy Agnew.
Napoli needed only a draw to secure the title and therefore when a relatively unknown youngster called Roberto Baggio stepped up to score a late equaliser for Fiorentina with a now trademark, precise free-kick, one paid only minimal attention to the 20-year-old scoring his first Serie A goal. Little did we know.
Now in his 22nd season as a professional footballer, Baggio was at it again on Sunday, scoring his 200th Serie A goal of a remarkable career. These days, the Baggio knees are ever more crocked and the hair is distinctly grey but the class remains as pure as ever.
His late equaliser for Brescia in a 2-2 away draw with Parma was a real collector's item and not just because of its numerical significance. Picking up the ball on the edge of the Parma area, Baggio feinted to go one way but turned sharply in the other direction leaving Parma's Italian international defender Matteo Ferrari on his backside.
He might be 37-years-old and the acceleration over the initial 10 yards might not be that of his heyday yet he still had enough pace to get past two other defenders before slotting home a diagonal shot that left Parma's French international goalkeeper Sebastien Frey with no chance. All that remained was for the crowd at Parma's Tardini stadium to get to its feet and offer the "Little Prince" a much deserved standing ovation.
When Baggio came out to meet the media after the game, one all too-obvious question hung heavily in the air. For how much longer does he intend to defy annus domini and keep on playing? Earlier this year, he had appeared to accept the inevitable when announcing this would (reluctantly) be his last season. In the wake of his current sparkling form, was he tempted to reconsider?
"No. Unfortunately, I think this will be my last season, even if just at the moment, there is a terrible struggle going on inside me between my love of this game and the suffering and pain that comes from knees that have seen six major operations and which let me know about it a fair bit.
"It will be very hard to retire even allowing for all my aches and pains. I don't know what I will do with myself. I'll take a lot of time off, go hunting in Argentina and do a number of things that I haven't had time to do. Mind you, sooner or later, the old yearning for football will return."
As his words indicate, Baggio, like all great athletes, is clearly dreading the day when he will finally hang up his boots. Unlike many great athletes, however, he has no problem admitting as much to himself.
His realism is such that he dismisses the romantic notion he might be drafted in as the over-aged player in Italy's Olympic Squad in Athens this summer. Although there have been media calls for Olympic coach Claudio Gentile to offer Baggio an Olympic swansong to his career, the player himself is not much convinced.
"I don't know about that. Frankly, I don't believe it will happen because Gentile already has a settled squad that he has been working with for some time now."
Picking the right moment to finally retire is never easy. All the more so because, notwithstanding its longevity, Baggio's remarkable career seems strangely incomplete. He did, of course, win league titles with Juventus (1995) and AC Milan (1996), yet he never featured in a Champions League winning side. Likewise, despite scoring 27 goals in 55 games for Italy, his international career will probably be best remembered for that final penalty kick miss in the shootout which saw Italy lose the 1994 World Cup final to Brazil.
For all that, though, Baggio has earned his place in football's hall of fame. His combination of crystalline class and footballing intelligence, as well as his durability notwithstanding all too obvious physical frailty, mean that he truly was, and still is, a Little Prince of a footballer.
