kick technique was described as a cross between that of Maradona's, Zico's, and Platini's, as at the time, his ball-striking technique was thought to resemble Platini's, although, like Zico and Maradona, he preferred to take free kicks from close range, usually from a distance of around 20 to 16 metres from the goal, or even just outside the area, and to have the ball touched by a teammate first before striking it. Despite his decisive miss in the 1994 World Cup final shootout, Baggio was also a penalty kick specialist. Although naturally right-footed, Baggio was comfortable using either foot, and often began dribbling with his left foot. Not particularly imposing physically, or in the air, due to his diminutive stature and slender physique, he was known however for his pace and acceleration over short distances, which, along with his movement, positioning, anticipation, technical ability, quick feet, low centre of gravity, and resulting agility, allowed him to lose his markers when making offensive runs into the area, both on and off the ball. Regarded as one of the greatest dribblers ever, and as one of the most technically accomplished players of all-time, Baggio possessed an excellent first touch, and was renowned for his skilful dribbling, ball control and balance, as well as his spatial awareness, speed of thought and execution, reactions, close control at speed, and ability to beat opponents with flair, tricks, body feints, or sudden changes of pace or direction, both in one-on-one situations, or during individual dribbling runs. Zico once described Baggio as "technically flawless," while in 2004, Sacchi stated: "Baggio is creativity, flair, unpredictability, intuition, harmony." In 2016, Rob Smyth of The Guardian praised Baggio for his "instinctive intelligence," when commenting on his playing style, also describing him as a "conductor" on the pitch "who knew when and how to change the tempo of an attack." Reception Considered by pundits to be a highly promising prospect in his youth, Baggio later established himself as one of the best players of his generation, and as one of Italy's greatest players ever; Baggio is regarded by many in the sport, including his former Milan manager Fabio Capello, as the best Italian footballer of all-time, and by many in the sport, as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Italian journalist Gianni Brera, who had observed both Giuseppe Meazza and Gianni Rivera, stated that Baggio was