Paolo Guerrero and Racing’s number 22: Who used the most symbolic numbers in football?

Paolo Guerrero keep making news. Not only that he has signed for Racing Club is good news, but yesterday it was announced that he will wear the number 22 shirt, the one worn by Diego Milito, the club’s idol, at the Academy.

The numbering on the shirt has a history in each club, and not only in football. Michael Jordan’s 23, Kobe Bryant’s 8 may be the greatest examples since the NBA, but football also has its curiosities.

Diego Milito was a Racing forward, idol of the club, hero in the 2001 Apertura title and glorious return to win the Transition Tournament in 2014. He is so beloved that the street next to the Cilindro, Racing’s stadium, bears his name.

Even when Diego Milito retired in May 2016, he received a standing ovation in the 22nd minute against Temperley. At that time, some fans even started the campaign to withdraw the 22 shirt, which led to a collection of signatures on the Change.org portal.

That 22 is the one that Paolo Guerrero inherits. It was used after Milito by young figures such as Carlos Alcaraz, Nicolás Reinero and the controversial Ricardo Centurión. Now it will be the Peruvian’s turn to give value to that shirt.

Lolo’s 9

And the number is something that is respected. Sports University does it with the 9 used by the great Lolo Fernández. The ‘Cañonero’ wrote a large part of the cream history, that is why Ate’s team does not wear this shirt in the local team.

This year, despite having Emanuel Herrara and Alex Valera, the 9 is not used. The Argentine has the 15 shirt and the Peruvian the 30. However, where if the creams have to wear the shirt is in international tournaments, since by regulation they must complete the shirts from 1 to 26 or it depends on the number of players that are allowed to enroll.

Maradona’s 10

It was the FIFA rules that did not allow Argentina to stop wearing the number 10 Diego Armando Maradona jersey. Diego used the albiceleste for the last time on June 25, 1994 against Nigeria, in the World Cup in the United States. After that, and the doping case, he did not return to the national team.

On September 25, 2001, Julio Grondona sought to retire the 10 shirt as a tribute to Diego Maradona, days before the Argentine’s farewell game. “That they withdraw No. 10 in my honor is beautiful, because the light blue and white is the biggest thing there is. It’s like the old one,” Diego declared.

However, the measure could only be fulfilled in friendlies and Qualifiers, but they could not do it for the Copa América and World Cups. After that, the shirt has been used normally.

It was Ariel Ortega who inherited the Argentina number 10 left by Maradona, although it was Marcelo Espina who used it in the first game without Maradona (4 times). Marcelo Gallardo (15). Then came names like Pablo Aimar (7), D’Alessandro (6) and Juan Román Riquelme (29) and the current Lionel Messi. Maradona played 85 games with the 10, Ortega added 59 (of 89 games) and Leo already has more than 100 appearances with that number.

Pele’s 10

2022 said goodbye with the departure of O Rei Pelé. The Brazilian star passed away on December 29 and the duel in football was global. Given this, the initiative was born to remove the 10 shirt from Santos, the club where he became great.

The idea would have been to the liking of Pelé’s family, however, in Santos they hardly said that they could evaluate the measure. “The retirement of the 10 shirt would be an excellent tribute to Pelé,” club president Andres Rueda said at the beginning.

However, at a press conference, the same president assured that it would not happen when he recalled a message from Pelé himself in 2017. “He clearly said that he did not like the idea of ​​withdrawing number 10.”

For this reason, Santos’ 10 is still active and it is the Venezuelan Yeferson Soteldo who uses it in Brazilian soccer.

Cruyff’s 14

Johan Cruyff’s 14th with the Netherlands team is historic. He started using it at Ajax due to a prop’s mistake when handing him his shirt for a match that ended in victory over PSV. The 9 he was using he gave to Gerrie Muhren and he took one from the bank.

This is how the 1974 World Cup played despite the fact that the numbers were distributed in alphabetical order, but an exception was made with Cruyff. In Barcelona he did not have the same luck and he used number 9 again. But the 14 was marked, so much so that when Cruyff became a coach, he designated this number to a young figure of the club who has projection in the season.

Ajax retired the 14 shirt in 2007 as a tribute to Cruyff on the day he celebrated his 60th birthday. Meanwhile, in 2016, the year of the death of the Dutchman, Line 14 of the tram was inaugurated in Amsterdam, the birthplace of the greatest idol in the Netherlands.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 7

Currently, the most recognized shirt in the world is the 7. In fact, Cristiano Ronaldo has established his brand around the number. ‘CR7’ is Cristiano, who now plays for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia with that number.

At Manchester United, 7 is a historic number. It was worn by George Best, Steve Coppell, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham himself until Cristiano Ronaldo put it on.

After ‘CR7’, the Red Devils have seen Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia, Ángel di María, Alexis Sánchez, among others, with the 7.

Later, at Real Madrid, Cristiano marked an era with his number 7. A decade of achievements that ended in 2017. Before, idols like Juanito and Raúl González used it, and after the departure of the Portuguese, Mariano Díaz and Eden Hazard continued, none of them with good performance.

—