Who is the greatest Italian player ever? (32 Viewers)

Greatest Italian Player Ever

  • Roberto Baggio

  • Franco Baresi

  • Alessandro Del Piero

  • Dino Zoff

  • Paolo Maldinosaurus

  • Fabio Cannavaro

  • Giacinto Facchetti

  • Giuseppe Bergomi

  • Gaetano Scirea

  • Gianluigi Buffon

  • Giuseppe Meazza

  • Luigi Riva

  • Francesco Totti

  • Alessandro Del Baggio

  • Balotelli

Results are only viewable after voting.
Kaiser Franco

Kaiser Franco

Buzzurri7
#130
Dec 27, 2003
1,982
#130
And Conti, the man of whom Pélé said that he was more Brazilian than a Brazilian, doesn't even make the list..

In my lifetime it's a close call between Baresi, Paolino and Buffon. But if you're going to include Meazza, Facchetti and Riva then surely Piola, Valentino Mazzola and the first Italian Golden Ball winner deserve a shot too.
 
Kaiser Franco

Kaiser Franco

Buzzurri7
#131
Dec 27, 2003
1,982
#131
salman said:
The fact that teams struggled without Baggio in their lineup is actually an argument in favour of his ability than against it TBH.

Also,Baggio's lack of team trophies is down to much more than his own skill.He changed clubs(Or had to) a lot,unlike a lot of players in this poll.Sure,you can use the 'He could never adjust in an enviornment here' against him,but then again,you could also use the 'he was capable of being brilliant almsot everywhere he went' for him too.He won team honours at the the two teams capable of winning trohpies ie Milan and Juventus.Fiorentina was where he became the player that he was,but they were never going to challenge for major trophies.Inter were Inter back then,and they were going through a regular case of Scudetto Phobia that haunted them for ever 16 years.And surely,you cant expect him to win trophies at Brescia and Bologna.Yet he made Bologna and Brescia achieve more than they could have.

With all due respect to the other players in this poll,they spent major chunks of their careers at teams that were capable of challenging for major trophies.Out of the 22 years of Baggio's professional career,only 7 were spent at trophy challenging teams(9 if you include Inter).The rest werent.Del Piero etc won many more team honours,but thats because they've spent almost their entire careers at trophy challenging teams.Also,Del Piero was at Juventus during one of the club's most succesful periods under Lippi,so team trophies were always going to come his way.No disrespect meant to Del Piero though.He is still one of the greatest italian players ever,but not THE greatest.

Baggio did brilliantly for Italy at major competitions btw.He scored the goal of the tournament at Italai 1990,took Italy to the WC final in 1994 despite not being fully fit,and he deserved much more playing time than he got at France 1998.He was one of Italy's best players in the group stages,and he should have started the 2nd round and QF too..even though initially,he went to the tournament as a sub for Del Piero.

And no,he did not make Italy lose the 1994 WC.Massaro and Baresi missed their penalties before Baggio took his.Italy were 3-2 down when Baggio stepped up,and Even if Baggio had scored his,Brazil would have still won had they converted their last penalty.Baggio was as guilty as Di Natale at Euro 2008.Does anyone say that 'Di Natale cost italy a Semi Final place'?Fuck no.
Click to expand...

Baggio hasn't been truly brilliant in any of the big teams he's played for, bar for the 1993 season that brought you the Uefa Cup back when it was still a serious competition. That is the one and only trophy that has Baggio's name on it. He didn't win the scudetto at Juve and Milan : rather it was Juve and Milan that won it despite Baggio. But Im not going to further discuss something that, judging by your profile age, you can only have got from false myth-building hearsay. Instead I'll just remind you how your own president Gianni Agnelli aptly summarised Baggio's approach in the crucial moments with your club by coining the "coniglio bagnato" tag. Oh and for once Seven is right on the money when he says that Del Piero in his prime, someone I otherwise rarely waste a chance to criticize, was twice the player Baggio has been.

As for "took Italy to the WC final despite not being fully fit", codswallop to that too. Baggio had been resting since January ahead of that WC (as in he didn't do anything relevant except sealing a win in San Siro against a Milan that was all but mathematically champion by then and was focusing on the CL). He came at the WC in the best possible physical shape, (brilliantly) saved our ass time and again on the way to the final then got injured in the semi, decided to play the final regardless and had us face Brazil with 10 men as a result, something Sacchi never pardoned him for. Contrast this with Baresi, whose WC should have been over after game one when he got a far more serious injury, only to come back in time for the final through some sort of miracle. Oh so he missed his penalty too, but then we wouldn't have made the penalties in the first place had it not been for him : http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=boPQNpPvJq0
 
Lawnchair Bes

Lawnchair Bes

The Loser
#132
Jan 7, 2004
29,704
#132
Kaiser Franco said:
And Conti, the man of whom Pélé said that he was more Brazilian than a Brazilian, doesn't even make the list..

In my lifetime it's a close call between Baresi, Paolino and Buffon. But if you're going to include Meazza, Facchetti and Riva then surely Piola, Valentino Mazzola and the first Italian Golden Ball winner deserve a shot too.
Click to expand...

glad to see you agree with me
 

lavenderguy

Junior Member
#134
Feb 28, 2005
298
#134
I voted for Baggio. He's one of the great Italian player of all time. Among the top 10 best player ever I watched.
However my heart roots for Del Piero.He's my no.1 soccer idol.
Call me a fan boy whatever u wish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 32)