On 21 September 1986, under the late-summer sun at Florence’s Comunale, Roberto Baggio’s Serie A story began in full view of a city ready to recognise him. Fiorentina were facing Sampdoria in the second round of the season, and a 19-year-old wearing the No. 10 shirt delivered the first public sign of a talent that had already survived far more than most young players could expect.
A No. 10 steps into Fiorentina’s afternoon
Baggio had started the campaign on the bench in Fiorentina’s 2-1 defeat at Avellino and had made his European debut against Boavista in the UEFA Cup. That appearance had already stirred Florence: supporters saw his close control, his ability to escape opponents and the quality of his passing.
Against Sampdoria, coach Eugenio Bersellini gave him a place in a forward line featuring, from right to left, Onorati, Oriali, Ramón Ángel Díaz, Baggio and Monelli. He wore the No. 10 usually associated with captain Giancarlo Antognoni, who was injured during what would be his final season with the Viola.
- Baggio was 19 and a half when he made his Serie A debut.
- He took the corner that led, after a scramble in the area, to Díaz’s opening goal.
- Díaz scored twice, adding the second from a free-kick position that would later become strongly associated with Baggio.
- Baggio was also near the ball for that set piece, but Díaz was Fiorentina’s designated taker.
- He was replaced by Sergio Battistini with two minutes left, receiving an appreciative ovation from the Comunale stands.
The newspapers were unanimous in naming Baggio Fiorentina’s outstanding player. Sampdoria midfielder Luca Fusi, a player of similar slight build, was nominally assigned to contain him but struggled to keep track of the young forward. Both men would later reach the Italy national team, though that future was still impossible to take for granted.
Bersellini’s faith and a difficult road to Florence
Bersellini had not been afraid to trust young footballers. At Inter he had handed Giuseppe Bergomi his chance at 17, while at Sampdoria he had introduced Gianluca Vialli at 20. His decision to start Baggio was therefore consistent with a coach willing to look beyond age when he saw the necessary quality.
Yet Baggio arrived in Florence with a body already marked by severe injury. He had made his professional bow for hometown club Lanerossi Vicenza in Serie C in June 1983, shortly after turning 16. Before that, he had grown up in Caldogno, the sixth of eight children, watching football from the bicycle frame in front of his father Olindo on Sunday journeys to see Real Vicenza and Paolo Rossi. Zico was the idol he tried to emulate on the local pitches.
After a first taste of senior football and then a regular role in Serie C1, his career appeared to be in danger. During a match against Rimini, then coached by a young Arrigo Sacchi, he suffered a devastating injury to his right knee.
- The damage involved the anterior cruciate ligament, capsule, meniscus and collateral ligament.
- He underwent surgery in Saint-Étienne under Professor Bousquet’s team.
- The treatment included drilling into the tibia and 220 staples.
- He lost 12 kilograms during his hospital recovery.
At his lowest point, Baggio begged his mother Matilde, in Veneto dialect, to put an end to his suffering. Instead, he returned to the game. Fiorentina had paid about three billion lire for him, but he spent a year in the treatment room and felt unable to cash the wages sent to his family home in Caldogno. Six pay cheques remained piled beneath the telephone before a Fiorentina secretary asked why they had not been deposited. Baggio’s answer was simple: he was ashamed to take money while unable to play.
The applause, then another stoppage
The Sampdoria match should have been the beginning of Baggio’s first proper Serie A season. It proved to be only a brief opening chapter. Within days he injured the same right knee again and missed Fiorentina’s trip to Brescia.
Professor Paolo Aglietti, who had operated on Antognoni in May, examined him and found that the knee was still far from right. Baggio had to stop again, and the setback ruled him out for virtually the entire campaign.
Years later, Baggio reflected on a career containing six knee operations — four on the right and two on the left. He recalled that meniscus injuries were considered especially serious at the time, that the procedures were invasive, and that every operation sent him into a dark period. But, he said, he never stopped trying to find a way back.
A return before the next chapter
Seven months after his promising afternoon against Sampdoria, Baggio returned on 26 April 1987 at San Siro against Inter. He played in the final four fixtures of a first Serie A season defined by anticipation, injury and resilience.
The teenager who had enchanted Florence for one afternoon could not yet know how much remained ahead: the acclaim, the burden of the No. 10, and the long championship journey that would make Roberto Baggio one of Italian football’s defining figures.
