Not many people know that former Milan stalwart Franco Baresi played the World Cup in 1990 with a fractured elbow after suffering the injury in Italy’s opening match against Austria at the Olimpico. Professor Andrea Ferretti, a former doctor of the Italy squad and head of the medical staff at the FIGC, shares his memories with Kevin Azzopardi

It’s not everyday that you get the chance to meet a doctor who, besides being universally regarded as one of the leading orthopeadic surgeons in Italy and Europe, is also an influential figure in the medical set-up of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and a member of the UEFA Medical Committee.

Professor Andrea Ferretti has sport in his DNA.

A former volleyball player and coach, Profs Ferretti has spent 16 years as chief doctor of the Italian national squad and, to this day, is still in charge of the medical staff of Italy’s Under-21 and all the youth selections and the female sector.

During his long stint with the Italian senior squad (1990-2004 and 2006-08), Profs Ferretti has not only worked with a host of top coaches, from Giovanni Trapattoni to Arrigo Sacchi, he also had some of the world’s leading players of that era, the likes of Milan stalwarts Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio, under his care.

Someone who has been to all the major sporting events, including two Olympic Games as doctor of the Italian basketball national team, four World Cups and four Euro-pean Championships, inevitably has so many interesting stories to tell that he can easily fill up a voluminous book.

Profs Ferretti’s eyes glistened when he recalled the sequence of events that led to Baresi undergoing a knee operation in the United States during the 1994 World Cup.

“Not many people are aware of this event,” Professor Ferretti said.

“Franco Baresi suffered an injury in the second match of the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

“He ruptured the meniscus and I had to operate him in the United States together with an American doctor, Professor (Elliot) Hershman.

“The game against Norway was on Thursday and that night, we were in constant contact with Milan, his club, to discuss Baresi’s injury.

“Milan were naturally worried about Baresi’s condition. The player told me at the time that his knee was blocked.

“That night, I had a meeting with Arrigo Sacchi.

“We decided to go ahead with the operation which was carried out on Friday afternoon. That night I slept at the Lenox Hill Hospital.

“I remember waking up around 5am on Saturday and, at the break of dawn, Baresi and I called a taxi and sneaked out of hospital like two robbers.

“We made our way to the Somerset Hills Hotel where the team was staying. We arrived there early and when everyone came down for breakfast, they found us there.

“Baresi recovered well from the operation and played in the final... unfortunately he missed the penalty.”

With the score still locked at 0-0 after extra-time, the final between Brazil and Italy, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, went into a penalty shoot-out.

Baresi was tasked with taking Italy’s first penalty but lifted his shot over the bar as Italy went on to lose 3-2 after Daniele Massaro and Roberto Baggio also failed to hit the target.

Profs Ferretti explained that this event transcended the ordinary because of the context in which the decision to perform surgery on Baresi was taken.

“The injury suffered by Baresi made worldwide news,” Profs Ferretti said.

“The surgical procedure on the meniscus is quite straightforward but it was the context, the com-plicated discussions with Milan about the operation during the night, that has remained indelible in my mind.

“Dr (Rodolfo) Tavana (the former chief doctor of AC Milan) arrived in the US on Sunday afternoon.”

As Profs Ferretti reminisced on his experiences during his time as doctor of the Azzurri, he remembered another particular episode that occurred during the 1990 World Cup, that was staged in Italy. And Baresi was again the central figure.

“I made my debut as doctor of the Italian national side under (Azeglio) Vicini in Italia 90,” he said.

“The first game was Italy vs Austria in front of 90,000 at the Stadio Olimpico. It was one of those overwhelming occasions where you can’t conceal your emotions.

“Midway through the first half, Baresi fell heavily and I rushed on to the pitch. Upon examining his elbow, I immediately realised that it was fractured.

No substitution

“I gestured to the bench that Baresi had to be substituted, all this in front of 90,000 people.

“Baresi walked towards the touchline but returned to the pitch. Vicini didn’t say a word to me as the game progressed.

“We won 1-0 with a goal from (Salvatore) Schillaci.

“After the game, the X-ray confirmed that Baresi had fractured his elbow. We said nothing about it... actually it was one of the few stories that we managed to hide from the media.

“Baresi played the whole World Cup tournament with a fractured elbow and very few people knew about it.

“The next day, Vicini came to me and said: “Professor, I have a lot of respect for you and I trust your advice but as Italy coach, I have to think three times before taking off an important player like Baresi.

“Vicini was very good with me.”

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