Italian football legend Roberto Baggio has been hospitalized after being attacked by armed robbers who stormed his home.
The intruders locked his family up while they watched last night’s Euro 2024 match between Italy and Spain.
According to a media report from Italy, Baggio, 57, was at his home in Altavilla Vicentina, a small town in northern Italy about an hour’s drive from Venice, when a gang of five broke in around 10 p.m. local time on Thursday night.
Italy lost the game to Spain by a lone goal.
While Baggio, known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), tried to fight off the attackers, he was hit in the head with the butt of a gun before he and his family were locked in a room.
The robbers stole watches, jewellery, and money from the isolated estate where Baggio and his family have lived for 15 years.
The exact value of the stolen items is not currently known. The robbery reportedly lasted 40 minutes.
After the robbers left, Baggio managed to break his family out of the locked room.
He had to go to a hospital in Arzignano, about eight miles from his home, to be treated for his forehead injury, which required stitches.
Although the incident did not cause any physical harm to his family, it left them terrified.
The investigating police have received CCTV footage to aid in their investigation.
In a statement released on Friday, Baggio said: “First of all, my family and I would like to thank everyone for the great affection received. Truly, thank you.
“In such circumstances, anything can happen, and fortunately, the violence suffered only resulted in a few stitches and a lot of fear.”
He won two Serie A titles and is considered one of the world’s greatest players.
A 1985 injury led him to convert from Catholicism to Buddhism, although he married his long-time partner Andreina Fabbi in a Catholic ceremony in 1989.
The couple has three children: Valentina, born in 1990; Mattia, born in 1994; and Leonardo, born in 2005.
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