Roberto Baggio, an Italian football legend, was hospitalised after being attacked by armed robbers who stormed 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 a group of five broke in at 10 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Italy lost the game to Spain by one 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.
While none of his family were physically hurt, they were left terrified by the incident.
Investigating police have been handed CCTV footage to assist in their inquiry.
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 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.