The Divine Codino: “With the ball at my feet I was the happiest person in the world. Am I a champion? I’ve never had the perception. I’ve always tried to entertain people, yes”
– thirty
In Trento, for the sixth Sports Festival, there are an infinite number of champions. As and more than ever. Italians and foreigners. Of all disciplines, summer and winter, individual and team. But, at first glance, few are more loved than him: Roberto Baggio. Hanging from the galleries of the Teatro Sociale, site of the official inauguration, are his many shirts: club and national. Surprisingly, fans and enthusiasts picked them up. About twenty years have passed since the Divine Codino, on fields all over the world, stopped enchanting with his magical touches. And speaking of “The Great Beauty”, the title of the 2023 pink event, the loudest applause of the evening is inevitably for him. “I have always played with infinite passion – he begins from the stage, urged by Pierluigi Pardo and Federica Masolin – the one that leads you to go beyond the limits. But it is only through training that I have achieved what I have done in my life. Am I a champion? I have never felt like I was doing things that others couldn’t do. I’ve always tried to entertain people, yes.”
THE TALENT
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Many topics were touched upon during the long and intense chat. Here’s a summary. The aesthetic sense, the instinctiveness: “Everything is the result of how much you have trained, by repeating certain things they become natural. Nobody wakes up in the morning and does something extraordinary. There is always work, effort and perseverance behind it, nothing happens by chance. From musicians to painters, down to the last artist, it’s like this. Anyone who tells anything else tells lies. If you don’t want to get involved, you won’t go anywhere.” His best goal: “Many friends say it’s the one I scored in Turin against Juve, playing for Brescia, I think it was 2001. But I struggle to find one in particular. Some not beautiful, they were important. I have always looked at the substance: scoring goals is not easy for anyone. I also made bad goals. Two even arrived by chance: they were intended to be crosses for teammates, but no one touched the ball and they entered the goal.” Talent in sport: “One name above all: Marco Van Basten. I remember his magic at the 1998 European Championship, in Holland-Russia. There was something incredible about his movements. I went to watch a Torino-Milan match to admire him and see how he moved on the pitch. He represented true beauty. What if I have ever played undercover like he was forced to do? No, thanks to Buddhism I made up for it in another way: I played with pain. And so I overcame many limits.”
MAZZONE
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Carlo Mazzone’s memory: “He was a clean, honest, pure person: he made the difference with these characteristics. He had the values of a father, you couldn’t help but love him.” And then Brescia: “Everything can be traced back to Gino Corioni, a visionary, who spoke about owned stadiums 25 years ago. He brought great champions. He always saw ahead.” There is a project that Roberto is particularly fond of today: it is called “Tutti in campo”. “He deals with amateur clubs – he explains -: we offer them equipment. The future belongs to young people and this initiative brings them closer to football and all other disciplines. Sport is aggregation, sharing, growth. It would be a shame to lose talent along the way: there are many in Italy. And being together with others is essential. When I was a kid, in my town we destroyed a hockey field to play on. We had nothing but the ball. But sport was my life training.” Pasadena’s mistake at the 1994 World Cup: “I’ve learned to live with it. If I think that at 18 I risked no longer being able to play… I was lucky enough to be in many teams, all important. What counts is the spirit with which you approach it: wherever I went, I played to make my fans happy.” On his absence from the stage and social media: “When I was a footballer I didn’t like talking or doing interviews. Many interpreted that attitude as arrogance. In truth it was just shyness, which has passed a little over the years. I protected myself and in some ways that’s what I still do today. I’m not interested in appearing, it’s better to be seen little, but if possible well.” Today’s football: “I really envy those who play… I like Italian’s Fiorentina. Last season the best game was that of Napoli. Now, thinking about the national team, I hope that Spalletti is left to work in peace. Italy? There is always. By the way: I think that whoever wins a European Championship should go to the World Cup by right.”
LAUTARO A GREAT
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Simplicity: “I’ve played all my life and I would have liked to do more. But you need to be as simple as possible, to be satisfied every day.” Today’s champion: “Lautaro Martinez: I saw him in Argentina with Racing, at 18 he scored three goals in the Libertadores and, having stayed home from the World Cup, he wished his teammates good luck. He is a man everywhere: he fights for every ball, goes back to defense… ”. The VAR: “I like it, it’s right. He gives credibility to football. In the United States they have been using it forever. This is also why I love NBA basketball and NFL football.” The trend: “In Italy the result still matters too much. What matters is the path. As a boy, however, I had a tendency to believe that I could never lose.” Friends: “I have many, even if it’s difficult to hang out with them. I’m proud of Guardiola, he was a coach already as a footballer. He revolutionized the game: his teams always stand out.” The lessons: “With the ball at my feet, I was the happiest person in the world. Sport taught me to never give up and that defeats can become a springboard for fulfillment in life. What wouldn’t I do again? I wouldn’t take the penalty in Pasadena, where I never returned…”.
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