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Baggio keeps scoring, hopes for World Cup slot
BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) -- Time is running out for Roberto Baggio. Knowing France '98 is his last chance to play in a World Cup, he hopes to prove worthy of a roster spot over the last four games of the Serie A season.Baggio's 16 goals for Bologna rank him sixth in the league, but the 31-year-old playmaker was not selected by Italy coach Cesare Maldini for Wednesday's warmup match against Paraguay.
"I said before the season that I wanted to score 20 and I will do my best to do so. And if that will help me return to the national team, all the better," Baggio said Sunday after scoring twice in a 3-0 win over his old club, AC Milan.
"I don't know if I can convince Maldini with these goals, but if so, I'd be quite happy," he said.
Baggio led Italy to the final at the 1994 World Cup with five goals in three games, but he has made just one appearance for the Azzurri in the past three years.
After two tumultuous years with Milan with little playing time, Baggio moved to Bologna last summer, hoping that a steady starting spot would keep him in the spotlight enough to catch Maldini's eye.
"Last year the chance to show what I was worth was taken away from me, and that's why I changed teams. I always spent Sundays on the bench," Baggio said.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan