#5 Roberto Baggio
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Roberto Baggio was an absolute star for Italy in 1994 and their most influential player. In fact, he was the talismanic player around whom the team was built.
Baggio played an important role in taking Italy to finals of the tournament. His 5 goals throughout the length of their qualification were instrumental. The World Cup was slated to be his tournament. Prior to that, Baggio had cemented his reputation as a star for both his clubs and his country. For him to miss out on a penalty at a crucial juncture for his team was just unthinkable.
The 1994 World Cup was apparently the first World Cup whose result rested on a penalty shootout. The star, the Italian talisman was called upon to take the penalty that Italy needed to score to remain in the competition. Baggio missed.
He later spoke out about his thoughts on missing the penalty saying that he often found it unfair that the entire country blamed him for the defeat. The 1994 World Cup final was supposed to be retribution for the humiliation suffered at the hands of Brazil in 1970. “What is sometimes forgotten is that even if I had scored, Brazil could still have won with the last penalty because before me Baresi and Massaro had both missed. That's part of the game. I missed the last penalty, thereby 'cancelling out' those by Baresi and Massaro,” he later said.
Though Baggio was recalled to the Italian side for the 1998 World Cup, he never played a full 90 minutes for his side. The 1998 World Cup saw his last appearance for the Azzurri.
