Roberto Baggio's new book "Light In The Darkness" reveals INSANE things about coach Lippi at Inter:
- Lippi getting angry for Baggio using spicy olive oil,
- Lippi demanding Baggio spy on his teammates,
- Lippi "constantly attacking" & "bullying" Baggio
"He [Lippi] got angry at me because I used a dash of spicy olive oil in my salad. For him this was some form of sacrilege." 🥗
"One time during the pre-match training camp, we were all allowed one glass of wine with our food. Myself, Peruzzi, Ferron & Frezzolini asked for a bottle [to share]. Lippi got angry. Same night it was Seedorf's birthday, whom shortly after opened a couple of bottles of champagne to make a toast. That was ok, but for us evidently not." 🍷
"He wanted to meet me in March, he asked me to name the names of players who could potentially argue with him.
I replied in my own way: 'Coach, I train my hardest, you can evaluate if I deserve to play or not but please don't ask me to do anything else'.
Annoyed, he tried to provoke me from the start of the summer, to instigate a reaction from me. But I never lost my temper, I had read the game.
If I had reacted any differently, he would have the excuse to accuse me of trying to disrupt the dressing room." 🕵️
"One day Lippi yelled at me in an arrogant and aggressive way: 'Phenomenon, why don't you tell your teammates what is wrong with you?'
I replied with maximum calm: 'Coach, why don't you tell the teammates what you asked me to do' alluding to his request for me to spy on the team." 🐀
"One time I joked to a journalist that Inter was like a Ferrari being driven by a traffic warden. The following training session, he put me in the middle of the pitch for a public trial in front of my teammates. It was a constant attack, tangible bullying." 👨⚖️
"In the end, Lippi was practically forced to play me in the Champions League playoff against Parma in Verona. My two goals were decisive: a freekick to the right of the area that surprised Buffon & a powerful left footed shot from outside the area.
We won 3-1 and for me it was a nice redemption on a personal level, after lots of problems.
Someone commented that I favored the very coach who had humiliated me.
Maybe without those two goals, Lippi would have been sacked at the end of that season. But I hadn't even thought about that for a second: I was playing for my team, to honor the shirt and the fans." 🖤💙