Roberto Baggio, an Italian football legend, was hospitalised after being attacked by armed robbers in his home.
The intruders held his family captive while they watched Italy’s Euro 2024 match against Spain last night.
According to the Daily Mail Sports, Baggio, 57, was at his home in Altavilla Vicentina, a small village in northern Italy about an hour’s drive from Venice, when five people broke in around 10 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Italy lost the game to Spain by a single goal.
While fighting off the attackers, Roberto Baggio, also known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), was hit in the head with a gun butt before being locked in a room with his family.
The burglars stole watches, jewels, and money from the remote estate where Baggio and his family have lived for the past 15 years.
The actual worth of the stolen products is yet unknown. The robbery apparently took 40 minutes.
After the robbers fled, Baggio was able to free his family from the locked chamber. He needed to journey to a hospital in Arzignano, approximately eight miles away from his home, to receive treatment for a forehead injury.
While none of his family members were physically injured, the episode left them afraid.
The police have been handed CCTV footage to assist in their investigation.
Roberto Baggio, who has not yet commented on the robbery, spent his entire 22-year sporting career in Italy, playing for Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and other clubs.
He won two Serie A titles and is regarded as one of the world’s finest players.
An injury in 1985 prompted him to switch from Catholicism to Buddhism, although he married his longtime partner Andreina Fabbi in a Catholic ceremony in 1989.
They have three children: Valentina, born in 1990; Mattia, born in 1994; and Leonardo, born in 2005.