Soccer

Roberto Baggio, the top player on the Italian team that finished first in its World Cup qualifying group, was voted European player of year.

Baggio, the first Italian to win the award since Paolo Rossi in 1982, received 142 points in voting conducted by France Football magazine.

Last week, Baggio was voted FIFA world player of the year by national team coaches.

Baggio, 26, has nine goals in the Italian League this season for Juventus of Turin, the defending UEFA Cup champion. He has 19 goals in 32 international games.

Baggio succeeds Marco Van Basten of the Netherlands, who won in 1989, 1990 and 1992 but has been sidelined because of an ankle injury for most of the past year.

Horse Racing

Thoroughbred trainer Jeff Lukas remained in a coma 11 days after being run down by a horse.

Lukas, also suffering from pneumonia, was in very critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital, family spokeswoman Judy Cumberland said.

“He coughed and he yawned once and Linda, his wife, was so excited, but the doctor said it was only a reflex of the body,” said Cumberland, who works at the D. Wayne Lukas Stables.

Lukas, 36, suffered fractures at the base of his skull Dec. 15 when he was run down by a loose horse at Santa Anita.