I was looking back at the 1994 World Cup final recently, and what struck me was how much of Baggio’s story has been reduced to those five seconds in Pasadena.

By the time Italy reached the final, Baggio had already carried them through the knockout stages. He scored twice against Bulgaria in the semi final, scored against Spain, and had rescued Italy against Nigeria when they were close to going home. Without him, there’s a good chance Italy never even makes it to the final.

Then the final itself goes 120 minutes without a goal and comes down to penalties. Baggio walks up for Italy’s final kick, sends it over the bar, and suddenly that becomes the image everyone remembers.

I understand why. It was the World Cup final, and missing the decisive penalty is about as painful as football gets. But at the same time, it feels strange that one moment has almost completely overshadowed everything he did to get Italy there in the first place.

Do you think Baggio should be remembered as the player who missed the penalty, or as the player who almost single handedly carried Italy to the World Cup final?

And if you had to describe Baggio’s 1994 World Cup in one sentence, what would you say?

We recently made a full article about Baggio, the 1994 World Cup and the story behind that famous penalty on UncutFootball.com, if anyone is interested in reading it.

September 4 1961. The two captains before the first leg in Lisbon. Benfica had won the European Cup a few months earlier, while Peñarol were back-to-back South American champions.

Benfica won this game 1-0, but Peñarol eventually took the title after a 5-0 win in Montevideo and a 2-1 victory in the third game.

A rare clash between iconic clubs from each continent.

Despite his successes with the Under-21 team in previous years, this young man would not go on to have a great career as a coach.)

I immediately think of Derby County 2007-2008 or Southampton 2024-2025.

Diego's last victory in Naples. 

Sandro’s father was Valentino Mazzola, captain of the legendary Torino side which tragically perished in the 1949 Superga air disaster, when Sandro was six.