Baggio: His penalty miss tarnished a superb World Cup (BenRadford/Allsport)

Baggio had hit the headlines before Italia '90 when Fiorentina fans rioted after his record sale to Juventus. But football fans had to wait until the third game in the group stage to get a real glimpse of Baggio. He didn't disappoint and struck up a great parnership with Salvatore Schillaci that displaced the previous first-choice pairing of Andrea Carnevale and Gianluca Vialli.

That game saw Baggio score the goal of the championships. Picking up the ball just inside his own half, Baggio took on the Czechoslovakian defence and then wrongfooted keeper Jan Stejskal. It was the moment the world saw that in Baggio Italy possessed a real great.

However, Italian boss Azeglio Vicini did not seem to share that feeling and as soon as Vialli returned to full fitness, he was played in the semi-final against Argentina. It turned out to be the wrong decision as Maradona's team squeezed past them on penalties.

Four years later Baggio was a player in his prime. After a slow start (he was even substituted early in the game against Norway), he was the driving force in Italy's march to the final. A late equaliser against Nigeria was followed by the winner in the same game.

He repeated that trick with a late winner against Spain. In the semi-final a Baggio brace saw off Bulgaria. All through the tournament Arrigo Sacchi's team huffed-and-puffed only for Baggio to bail them out.

In the final, Baggio, carrying a knee injury which should have prevented him from playing, could not weave his magic and in a tournament where he had shone it was his missed spot-kick in a shoot-out which lost the trophy he had fought so hard to win.

That wasn't the end for Il Principe though, he was back at France 98 and starred in the early group stages before being replaced by Alessandro Del Piero, Cesare Maldini's first choice as Christian Vieiri's partner.

He even managed to bury his spot-kick ghost with a succesful conversion in the quarter-final with France. It was to be in vain as Italy, again, lost out.

Was that Baggio's final hurrah on the World Cup stage? Sadly, a knee ligament injury while playing for Brescia seems to have ended his often-stated wish of bowing out in Japan and Korea. Hope springs eternal for 'Roby' but Italy coach Giovanni Trappatoni recently stated his belief and sadness that Baggio will not make the finals.