 Baggio was voted Italy's "Player of the Century" in 2000.Baggio was controversially excluded from Italy's 2002 World Cup squad by coach Giovanni Trapattoni, who believed him to not have fully recovered from the serious injury he had sustained during the season.Although he was initially keen to include Baggio in the final 23-man list, he ultimately excluded him from the squad; Baggio had made a direct appeal to him prior to the tournament by writing him a letter.