Discarded Italian star Roberto Baggio showed what Euro 96 was going to be missing on the eve of the tournament as he led AC Milan to a classy victory against Instant-Dict before the biggest crowd of the season at Hong Kong Stadium last night.
Baggio and his AC Milan teammates gave Instant-Dict a footballing lesson as they delighted the sell-out crowd by thrashing the Hong Kong league champions 7-0. The capacity crowd of 40,000 were treated to a passionate night of soccer - and Baggio was the one they had come to see. But things turned sour right after the final whistle when lax security allowed more than 500 spectators to run on to the pitch and mob their heroes. Baggio had to run for cover, dashing for the safety of the players' tunnel amid disgraceful scenes reminiscent of Jurgen Klinsmann's visit here last year.
But Baggio's spectacular performance in the Lotto Super Challenge Cup would surely give Italian coach Arrigo Sacchi pause to think about his decision to exclude the stylish midfielder from his Euro 96 squad. The crowd reserved their warmest reception for the 'divine pony-tail', and the star of USA 94 did not disappoint.
Resuming where he left off after scoring one goal and creating another in AC Milan's previous match on Wednesday in Chengchun, Baggio mirrored his performance by scoring once and creating another. He almost burst the net when he crashed his effort home in the 25th minute after Gianluigi Lentini had sent him a perfectly-weighted through ball which he controlled beautifully before firing an unstoppable shot past Instant-Dict goalkeeper Mick Leonard.
Tomas Locatelli, who has another year to serve in the army and is the latest find for Milan, almost stole the show from Baggio by scoring four goals while striker Nicola Caccia and midfielder Riccardo Maspero grabbed the others for the Italian champions who also won a US$70,000 bonus from Instant-Dict.
Locatelli, 20, who AC Milan see as their future star, scored in the 50th, 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes as the Italian giants tore the Hong Kong champions to shreds.