120 Fahrenheit: The Thing About Numbers
January 3rd, 2009 . 1:33 pm . By: Buzz CarrickThe world of soccer fandom is divided into two groups (ok so it’s a lot more than two groups, but bear with me) those who think uniform numbers are important and those that do not. This piece is not a judgment one way or another about which way you should fall, I just happen to be a person who thinks the history and tradition of numbers matter. If you fall into the don’t care school then this article is probably not going to do much for you. Either way I am going to attempt to give you a short history on why numbers are what they are and what they mean. Since so many young players these days don’t grow up with a firm grounding in number lore and are usually more influenced by basketball numbers, I thought I might take a little time and discuss some of the lore behind each number. A Brief HistoryA long time ago, when numbers were first placed on jerseys, so the fans and media could tell who players were from high in the stand, the numbers were handed out based on the starting formation. The first 11 wore numbers 1 to 11, starting with the keeper as the #1 and moving from the back to the front. This is just like the early days of baseball when the batting order wore numbers 1 to 9 based on the place they were hitting. Babe Ruth wore 3 and Lou Gehrig 4 because they hit 3rd and 4th in the Yankee order. When substitutes were added to soccer they would wear numbers starting at 12 and going up to 16, 18, or whatever, depending on how many bench players were allowed. As the shape of formations changed and evolved over the years the numbers moved in certain patterns depending on the country in which the evolution was taking pace. Numbers took on positional meaning that could slowly change over decades. You could write an entire book on the evolution of tactics, in fact I recommend The Simplest Game: The Intelligent Fan’s Guide to the World of Soccer by Paul Gardner for a far greater dissertation on the evolution of tactics. To this day you will see different meanings of numbers based on the country in which the discussion is taking pace. In the modern era the advent of television, the marketing of players, and the sales of their jerseys led to the usage of specific numbers assigned to specific players for an entire season or career. Numbers began to become synonymous with specific players. I can’t tell you who the first team was that didn’t change numbers game to game and instead went with permanent number for the season was cause I don’t know. 1 to 11 remain the most coveted numbers as they are in the pure class numbers of super stars and the soccer gods, the numbers in the teens and low 20s have become more highly sought after than they did in historical times. Only in the last ten to twenty years with the advent of the massive squads of large teams have we begun to see the 30s and 40s come into play. With the more recent aberrations of media hype and marketing strangeness we have begun to see numbers surface like 66 and 99. One quick side note, MLS players unless there are strange and extraordinary circumstances (like a Blanco level signing for example, or obviously if they change teams) are not allowed to change numbers mid season. So on to the numbers. I’ll run through many of them, although not every single number between 1 and 100. I’ll give a brief perspective and then a few World, US, and FCD examples on each. 1 to 23In the current era of 23 man international squads the numbers 1 to 23 have become the modern favorites. US National Team numbers, for example, are chosen by playing seniority. When Reyna was in the squad, Landon Donovan wore 21, now that Reyna is retired Donovan is 10 all the time. Beasley is 7 unless Eddie Lewis is in the team then Lewis is 7. 1 – The KeeperProbably the most pristinely ubiquitous number in soccer is the #1 for the keeper. You just don’t see a field player where this number. Ever. The #1 is the keeper, period. World: Peter Schmeichel, Lev Yashin, Gordon Banks, Ricardo Zamora, José Luis Chilavert , Oliver Kahn, Fabien Barthez, Dida, Edwin Van Der Sar, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Petr Cech That makes my head hurt: There is no FCD #1 right now because after Sala joined the team he and Cassar both asked for the #1 when Garlick retired and Clark decided that rather than picking a favorite he would let neither have it until one of them won the job outright after a season. Since then Sala has just stayed with his higher #48 and now #44 and FCD won’t give the #1 to someone who isn’t the big name keeper on the team. With Sala’s new contract, I’d love to see him take the #1. 2 – The Right BackAlmost always a defender, and almost always the right back. The 2 has been the right sided defender since numbers were added to the game and has never really moved. it does pop up in the middle occassionally. World: Cafu, Gary Neville, Ivan Cordoba That makes my head hurt: Clint Dempsey’s adoption of the “duce” moniker and the #2. I’m not sure why he picked it but he stuck with it as a brand while he was in MLS. It will be interesting to see when Frankie Hejduk retires from the US team if Dempsey switches to the #2 from his more appropriate #8. 3 – The Defender’s DefenderThe pure defender, almost always a center back and has been so since the earliest days. World: Pablo Maldini, Jaap Stam That makes my head hurt: Calen Carr of the Chicago Fire an outright striker wearing the #3. 4 – LeftyWhile this number can be both a defender and a midfielder, it’s historically on the left side. This is particularly true of FC Dallas. Chris Gbandi clearly demonstrated his understanding of this when he switched form the 2 to the 4 as soon as it was available. World: Alex (Chelsea), Owen Hargreaves, Daniel Alves That makes my head hurt: Showing an alarming tendency to pop up as a center back or holding midfielder, because in some forms of the historical evolution of the team shape the #4 stayed central and a different number moved to left back (this comes up later). Examples: Michael Carrick for England, Brian Dunseth when he was with Dallas, Shavar Thomas with Chivas, and Patrick Ianni in Houston. The real painful one is Abe Thompson wearing #4 in KC. What the hell Abe? 5 – Center HalfIn the US a center half is a midfielder, in England a center half is a defender, in both places the #5 is a center half. The #5 did a bit of moving around in the evolution of tactics, most notable in England sliding back to be the central defense, while in many other places it stayed a midfielder. So cultural background can dictate a lot of how this number is perceived. World: Rio Ferdinand, Fabio Cannavaro, Michael Essien, Carlos Puyol That makes my head hurt: I can’t really think of any actually… unless you count a wide player like Ronnie O’Brien or Quavas Kirk wearing #5 but those aren’t horrible. 6 – Mr. VersatilityLike the #5, the #6 started out as a midfielder and in certain locations like Europe and the US it stayed there. In England it migrated to center back, in South American, notably Brazil, it migrated to left back. So more than any other number the #6 can pop up in multiple locations all over the field. Defense Midfield That makes my head hurt: Some idiot writer named Buzz Carrick wears this number. 7 – Right WingThe #7 is know world wide as an attacking number usually worn by a player with flare and frequently wide. In particularly on the right wing. You can look at one club, Manchester United and you will see what I mean. Only Cantona broke the Man U string of great right wing #7’s by being a great central #7. Strangely in the US the left wings for the National team seem to all be fighting over the #7. The #7, by the way, is Beckham’s “real” number as demonstrated by the fact he still wears it for England, when he went to Real Madrid the #7 was taken by none other than Raul, so Becks took #23 to honor Michael Jordan. Which is why Becks wears #23 in the US as well. So if you want to honor Beckham, wear #7 and not #23, are you listening Mr. Wagner? Man U: George Best, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo. That makes my head hurt: It’s not horrible for a forward to wear #7 as it’s such a great attacking number, but it’s still not right and proper. But since there are a few it can be gotten away with. Examples: Raul (Madrid), Shevchenko (Chelsea), Eddie Johnson (MLS era), Abe Thompson (FCD era) 8 – The LinkerThe classic two way possession midfielder. Almost always great at both defense and offense. Short of the #10 the most dominant player in the midfield. Creative and tough at the same time. A pure midfielder’s midfielder. The #8 is the third most important number in FCD history. World: Philipe Cocu, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Kaka (Brazil before he was 10), Gennaro Gattuso That makes my head hurt: It’s not just cause he got the MLS Goal of the Year against FCD, Will Johnson makes my head hurt cause he wears #8 as a striker. Ok maybe he plays in the midfield a lot. Maybe it is just cause of the goal. 9 – The StrikerThe pure goal scorer. This is the guy who is going to score and he’s going to score a lot. As he is almost always the high target striker he will draw all the ire of opposition defenders if he is scoring and all the ire of his fans if he is not. The #9 is the most important number in FCD history. World: Ronaldo, Luca Toni (Italy), Alan Shearer, Fernando Torres, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Samuel Eto’o That makes my head hurt: Sasha Victorine, you are a midfielder or defender my man, not a forward. College is over. Wear the #4 and the soccer gods will embrace you. He got traded and now wears #18? See the gods notice my friend. 10 – The ManThis is the guy, the #1 big cheese, the big kahuna. Wearing the #10 is saying “this is my team and I am going to kick your but.” Wearing the #10 means you will carry the load and the burden both on and off the field. The names in this jersey are the all time greats of the game. Forward, attacking mid, central mid, playmaker, sweeper even… The dominator of the game.
Unfortunately FCD has never really had a wonderful #10. World: Pele, Maradona, Zinadene Zidane, Lothar Matheaus, Ronaldinho, Denis Law, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero That makes my head hurt: Ricardo Iribarren once wore number #10 for the Dallas Burn as a marking back. Dear lord that’s wrong. The FCD #10 has been cursed since then. 11 – The SlasherThe other forward, perhaps a wing or wide midfielder with an attacking bent. Usually a very attacking player by nature and the second most likely goal scorer. Often with a higher number of assists than the #9. In Dallas history the #11 has been worn by a string of players with promise that have never quite delivered… until this last year. World: Ryan Giggs, Didier Drogba, Robin Van Persie, Joe Cole (England) That makes my head hurt: Clarence Goodson grew up a forward, but that’ no excuse for him wearing a #11 as a defender. It’s sacrilege. Goodson should be #3, a pure defenders number… maybe #5. Clarence, you’re not a forward and self awareness is the first step to enlightenment my man. #4 for Start? Oh, much better my friend. Well done. 12 – The SubTraditionally the first sub listed, which usually meant the keeper in ages past but that’s going away. Now a large contributor to the team, most often a role player and early off the bench rather than a starter. In most recent years has begun to transform to an attacking player that is a large contributor as a frequent starter in large squads. Usually someone who wants the #11 or #10. The first of the numbers that may be sometimes chose as it’s double of some other number (#6). In FCD history most notable for it’s use by a couple of defensive minded guys with some real heart. In the last two years picked as it’s close to the #11 by Arturo Alvarez and Victor Sikora. World: Frederic Kanoute, Phil Neville, Thierry Henry (France) That makes my head hurt: Doug Warren #12 goalkeeper for the Revs, the last #12 keeper in the league. 13 – BallsA player with the balls to wear the “unlucky 13″ and get away with it. A player that will throw their arrogance back in the face of fate and tell it to take a hike. Style, flash, brashness, guts, attitude are hallmarks of the #13. There’s not really a historic position for the #13 except perhaps generic midfielder and not so much a defender. A # not often chosen in FCD history, perhaps that should tell us something. World: Michael Ballack, Alessandro Nesta, Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich) That makes my head hurt: Nothing really, cause these guys usually pick it because of their personality rather than for where they play. 14 – The BrainsA class player, often in them midfield and usually one that gets by with brains rather than brawn. Skilled and tough as nails, and blessed with leadership and heart. Often with a ton of grit mixed in. This is especially true in FCD history. Second most important number in FCD history. World: Johan Cruyff, Patrick Vieira, Jose Maria Guti, Thierry Henry (non-France) That makes my head hurt: This is the number FCD wanted to give to Simo Valakari when he joined the club, unfortunately the soon to be cut Gavin Glinton was wearing #14 and FCD hadn’t reached an injury settlement to clear him off the roster by the time Simo was added. Instead they gave Simo #17 and once the number was filed and played under he couldn’t change once Glinton was cut later on. Simo would have been perfect to follow in the footsteps of the previous wearers of the 14, although Drew Moor seems to have the right character and heart as well. 15 – Mr. PersonalityFor some strange reason often a player with a big personality, whether it be ego, toughness, or just general hubris. Not specifically linked to a position on the field although the #15 is not often a striker World: Olivier Dacourt, Edmilson, Sergio Ramos (Spain) That makes my head hurt: Eric Quill wearing #15 in 2004. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with him wearing #15, he just had a horrible season that year. 16, 17 – The Ten + whateverNothing particularly sets these numbers apart except that they are often relatively desired numbers in the modern 23 man squad. They are frequently chosen as ten + whatever number the player really wanted or simply as “any number under 20.” These two numbers kick off a string of frequent striker numbers up to 20, but they can be used other places. For FCD in particular the 17 has been defensive. World: David Trézéguet (17), Arjen Robben (16), Ruud van Nistelrooy (17), Michael Carrick (16 Man U) That makes my head hurt: David Wagenfuhr in the #16 since he was forced to end his career with concussion syndrome. Ok bad joke. 18 – The Double 9Often a strikers number, or at least an attacking player. Sometimes a guy who wants to the the #8. Most often chose as 9+9 or 10+8. Ivan Zamarano when he was with Inter used to put a little “+” between the 1 and the 8 to make 9. Unfortunately, to my mind at least, it’s become a keeper number in the US. Perhaps because when rosters were at 18 it was the highest number? The Double 9 That makes my head hurt: The #18 as a keeper number. I hate that, although I hate it for no logical reason. Thank god someone sane is handing out numbers for FCD. Keepers 19 – Ten + NineSimilar to the 18, the 19 is often chosen as 10+9, or 1+9=10. World: Lionel Messi (or at least he used to), Esteban Cambiasso That makes my head hurt: The next time someone wears #19 for FCD it will certainly make me pause. 20 – The Other 9#20, which you would think is chosen cause it’s 10+10, is in fact almost always worn by someone who is a prototypical #9. Made popular as a striker number in 1982 by Paolo Rossi when he led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title as he scored six goals to win the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. Italy strangely (to me) handed out numbers from 1 to 22 in order from defender to striker for that tournament. All the forwards were 15 and up. (You can also see the historic second keeper #12. World: Deco, Paolo Rossi 21 – Black JackThe red headed step child of the first 23 numbers, it was and still is very rare to find someone who actively seeks this number. If you see someone wearing it they usually were assigned #21 and then just don’t bother to change. Donovan, for example, only wore it when Reyna is in the US squad. In a FCD context Alex Yi wore this number most his life and actually switched to it from #2, who knows why he likes it. Because of Dema Kovalenko it’s one of the most hated enemy numbers in FCD history. World: Alan Smith (England), Nuno Gomes (Portugal) 22 – The LalasTolerable for a defender in the US and made so by Alexi Lalas. I came close to calling it The Donkey in his honor cause he was big, kicked hard, and made a lot of noise. It’s usually just a squad number everywhere else and can be found all over the field. In FCD parlance the #22 is frequently the second keeper jersey. You see back when World Cup rosters had 22 people, the #22 was frequently the 3rd keeper, even after the international rosters went to 23 players the #22 has often stayed keeper. World: Kaka (AC Milan), Javier Saviola (previously), Fernando Torres (Spain) That makes my head hurt: The once in a blue moon double 11. Stuart Holden of the Houston Dynamo as an example, Kaka likely being another. 23 – The Jordon, a.k.a. The BeckhamThe last World Cup squad number these days. Famously chosen by David Beckham when he went to Real Madrid to honor Michael Jordan. The reality is the #7 was taken by Mr. Madrid, Raul, and the #23 was one of the few free numbers available there that Beckham could make some marketing prose out of. Some FCD context, back in 2006 Justin Moore and Blake Wagner both wanted #23 because of Beckham. Moore deferred to Wagner and took #24 instead. Wagner has worn #23 since. World: David Beckham (Madrid), Marco Materazzi, Jamie Carragher, Carlo Cudicini, Massimo Oddo, Massimo Ambrosini That makes my head hurt: This is soccer not basketball. Stop wearing #23 for Beckham, wear the #7 and honor the world game. 24 to 30 – The Large SquadThere is nothing in and of itself wrong with these numbers, they are a byproduct of large squads over 23 players. I can’t really say that anyone has yet to make one of them famous for something. In MLS these are primarily developmental squad numbers, they certainly are so for FCD. You do see some real skillful and important players in MLS stick with these numbers even if other spots open up. Here’s a few… 24 – Wade Barrett, Bouna Coundoul 31 to 99 – OdditiesThat makes my head hurt: Anything above here pretty much makes my head hurt. I won’t even bother to say it after this. But I hate numbers that are silly, goofy, funny, odd, or a joke. 33 – American Running BackFCD: Kenny Cooper. The NFL number that you see more on kids than professionals. Cooper wears it because the #9 was taken, then the #3 was taken, he says has worn the 3 for a large part of his career to pay homage to some friend of his fathers. Cooper should be a #9, which is what Man U made him wear with the reserves and what he wears for the US when he can. 44 & 48 – SalaDario wore #48 to honor his wife’s father who wore it in college. Although to be fair he joined midseason and the #1 was taken, he had to pick something and all the good stuff was taken. Still points for trying to find something that had meaning for him. Now he’s switched to the #44 to honor someone else in his family (IIRC). FCD: Dario Sala 66 – Route 66Only time I have seen this number worn was by Alain Sutter when he played for the Burn as homage to “America” and Route 66. FCD: Alain Sutter 77 – Double LuckyWhen 7 is taken you double down. I am not a big fan of the double your favorite number concept. MLS: Andy Williams 99 – The GretzkyMade famous by Gretzky who chose it because he wanted the #9 when he was a kid to honor Gordie Howe and the team he was on someone already had it. Which is exactly the reason who most soccer players who wear it also pick it. You actually see this in Mexico some as well. World: Ronaldo (AC Milan), Anderson 0 – NothingA keeper number, particularly in the US college system but occasionally in MLS. It’s a very non-traditional number and very American. Also seen as the #00. FCD: Jeff Cassar 25 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
awesome stuff, buzz!
Nice offseason article Buzz…
Growing up I always remember 3 being the left back .. 5 and 6 being the centre halfs.. sometimes 6 being the sweeper. 7 was always right wing and 11 the left wing.. but as you said tactics and formations have evolved.
Amen on the number 23.
Dario chose #44 to honor his classmates from Argentina. Something along the lines of being “school 44″ or something. I do not remember the exact story. Kind of a nice homage though. Very class guy that Dario is.
Countess also wore #1 for Burn/FCD
I’m going to add another “making my head hurt” for the number 2. Not one that most US fans are going to be aware of, but probably the biggest headache I’ve EVER had from a shirt number in a game I watched.
Rajab Hamza, a goalkeeper, wears #2 when he plays for the Qatar national team. Apparently the Qatar NT gave players numbers 1-18 (or however many were on the roster) from goalkeepers through forwards at some point. They no longer do it, but Hamza simply refused to change numbers. Fortunately for the sanity of Asian fans, he’s not their usual starting keeper. Unfortunately for American viewers, he started a game that FSC showed here.
And having worn the much-maligned #23 in college, I should weigh in on that. Perhaps some of the players who wore it preferred #3 or #13? I took #33 and then #23 because #13 was taken my freshman and sophomore seasons, and after that just couldn’t be bothered to change it. In a pro context, Materazzi and Carragher are both prototypical #3’s. (As is Eddie Pope, but then he also went to UNC.)
Great point Elninho. My problem with the 23 is wearing it for Beckham, not cause you want to wear 3.
Very interesting. My thought was that if you weren’t a true #11 and wore the number, you were probably the tallest guy on the team. Shows how much I know.
18 for keepers=own everything inside the 18 yard box.
No love for Phil Salyer? 22 IIRC?
Good story, but stop reading crap written by Paul Gardner.
A few comments:
“…You just don’t see a field player where this number. Ever. The #1 is the keeper, period….”
Uh, WRONG. Check out Argentina in the ‘78, ‘82, and ‘86 World Cups. They gave out jersey numbers based not on position but alphabetically. Magically, Maradona is alphabetically before Kempes.
Holland did the same in ‘74- Jan Jongbloed wore #8 as the goalkeeper.
Now answer this…..why do pics of Cruyff show his jersey with two stripes on the sleeves when everyone else wore three?
gee thanks. cause I actually literally meant every single #1 in the history of the universe.
The ‘78 World Cup was the first world cup I ever watched and it was the first time I ever saw players wearing jersey numbers that didn’t match up with their position on the field. I remember being very annoyed at not being able to figure out who was playing in what position.. I was so used to the number matching the position. I was ofcourse barely 7yrs old at the time.
MLS #10’s you picked Moreno over Valderrama… bad Buzz… bad Buzz
You forgot the greatest #16 of all time, Roy Keane.
No mention of Timmy Howard wearing #24 at Everton??
On 18: you mention Messi as 18, messi was 19 when ronaldinho was at barca but has since switched to 10, he was never 18. i have his 19.
Jay, sorry I should have put Argentina for Messi as he wears 18 for that side You are correct he used to wear 19 for Barcelona which is why he was listed there as well.
I understand the traditions but todays players could not care less about #’s, that’s for fans only.
Don’t forget one of the best MLS #10s – Marco Etcheverry
Great stuff, Buzz. Thanks for putting this together!
How can we not include mr. Libero, ultimate sweeper, #5 at his best, Franz Beckenbauer.
Nice job with the right up.
fantastic piece. an instant bookmark. the only thing i thought i’d add is that Guevara instantly popped into my head when it came to the #20.
Nice article, Buzz. How about Roy Lassiter #15
[...] If you feel about number like I do, then you’ll be happy to hear the number changes for this season. I’m most excited about Dario Sala going to #1. That’s a well deserved number for him. Drew Moor to #3 I get out of the position he plays, but I was down with him as #14 because of the Dallas history of the number. [...]
Andrea Pirlo wears #21 for AC Milan for some reason.
CIenfuegos & Valderrama wore #10 much better than any of those guys on the MLS list…
i wonder why Cesc Fabregas wears #4.