Chapter 10 9. My first champion

In my second year at Juventus, Trapattoni came back.He is one of the best coaches in the world and I have a lot of respect for him.He told me he trusted me.He's a real man, you can argue with him, but he always keeps his word.In football, it's not easy to do that. Under Trapattoni, my position was in question.My ideal position is the attacking midfielder, free to shoot.But for the striker Schillaci, Trapattoni made me sacrifice, and the position was a little bit late.I can understand him.Today, as then, Trapattoni can ask me to do whatever is tactically necessary, and I can also be in goal for his country in the World Cup.

In the 1991-92 season, I scored 18 goals in the league. We played well, but lost to Parma in the FA Cup final. In the summer of 1992, Juventus bought Vialli and we were expected to win the league together, but we didn't succeed. Vialli had some problems in his first year at Juventus, but even if we were in good shape, we couldn't win the league, because Capello's AC Milan was really too strong, an invincible team, And we are just a strong team. This season (1992-93) I scored 21 goals in 27 league games.On November 8, 1992, against Udinese, I scored four goals, the only time in my life. I was injured 10 days later against Scotland.The next league game was the Torino derby, which Juventus won without me with an own goal in the 93rd minute.So some people say that without Baggio, Juventus would have a more balanced team and be more likely to win.The results of it?Without me, Juventus lost three games in a row at the end of 1992.

But I still received a lot of criticism in Turin, and at the same time there were rumors that Juventus was going to exchange me for Parma's Minotti.As far as I know, this is news out of thin air, at least I did not think about leaving Juventus. On January 3, 1993, I came back from injury against Parma, and I scored a goal to defeat them. We beat AC Milan 3-1 at the San Siro on April 17, and the stadium crowd gave us a standing ovation for our goal.Two weeks later we beat Fiorentina 3-0 at home and I scored a penalty, my first goal against Fiorentina, who were relegated to Serie B that year.

We won the UEFA Cup that season.The opponent in the semi-finals was Paris Saint-Germain. In the home game on April 3, Weihe scored a goal for Saint-Germain in the first half, and I scored two wonderful goals in the second half, turning the defeat into victory. In the away game on April 22, I also scored a decisive goal. The final was against Borussia Dortmund and we were one goal behind at the start of the home game, but we won 3-1 with two goals from me and the third from Dino Baggio.The away game is just a performance. I wanted to score another goal against the Czech Republic in the 1990 World Cup. I passed many people, but the goal was confiscated by the goalkeeper.Too bad, otherwise it would have been a very good goal.

After winning the UEFA Cup, I am very emotional, it is the first time I have won a championship, and I am the protagonist.To celebrate the victory, I invited the whole team to dinner at the restaurant of Peter and Michele (hunting partners).It was a happy holiday, we drank champagne, and some people jumped on the table and danced during the meal. In 1993, I won the European "Golden Globe".This was quite beyond my expectation. A year ago, I didn't get a single vote.This is the third time an Italian player has won the honor.At the same time, I also won honors such as the World Footballer.

On January 29, 1994, I went to Paris to receive the award.But to be honest, what touched me the most during the trip to Paris was not the award ceremony, but her cheerful look when I took my daughter to Disneyland.On my way home from Paris, I passed Casson Baroni.It was 6 a.m., and without disturbing Pietro and Michele, I left the trophy on the restaurant counter and went hunting alone.When Peter and Michele came down from the stairs for breakfast and saw the trophies on the counter, they couldn't believe their eyes. This is a beautiful stage for me.In the 1993-94 season, I scored 17 goals.I was preparing for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, which I regard as the most important thing in my life.I was 27, the best age for a player.But the best thing about this phase was the birth of my son Mattia.I am a second time father and nothing is more important than that.