After entering a period of what might be described as semi-retirement, Sergio Ramos has shaken off eight months of inactivity to join Mexican outfit Monterrey. Quite how they were able to persuade the 38-year-old out of his slumber only they know, but Ramos – a World Cup and Champions League winner with more than 180 caps for Spain – will add significant experience and class to the Monterrey ranks.
Typically, a player will choose the same squad number throughout their career, assuming it’s available. But for Ramos, his switch to Mexico has brought with a change in digits on the back of his shirt. The Real Madrid legend wore the number four shirt almost exclusively during his time with the Galacticos, while for Spain he had the number 15 on his back – a nod to his old friend Antonio Puerta, the former Sevilla defender who tragically died of heart failure during a game against Getafe in 2007.
Why the Number 93?
📅 On this day, in 2014, Real Madrid beat Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final to win La Décima.
Sergio Ramos had equalised in the 93rd minute before Real ran away with it in extra time thanks to goals from Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo. pic.twitter.com/6pi1guMqSV
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) May 24, 2022
For Monterrey, Ramos will wear the number 93. A bizarre choice, you might think, although there is some thought behind it. It was a 93rd minute equaliser that he scored that rescued Real Madrid against their detested local rivals Atletico in the 2014 Champions League final.
The contest went to extra time, where goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Marcelo would secure the trophy for the Galacticos. It was a memorable moment for the white half of Madrid, which Ramos has now commemorated with his choice of unusual shirt number. Officials from the club even took to social media to applaud his selection.
Sergio Ramos will play for C.F. Monterrey. His shirt number chosen to remember a legendary moment for our club: minute 93. A tribute to madridismo, a reminder of a moment that changed our history. Eternally grateful, @SergioRamos. We wish you lots of luck and success.
Not to be outdone, here’s a rollcall of players that blazed a trail for Ramos with bizarre and seemingly random squad number choices.
Number of the Beast
Historically, some numbers have become inextricably linked to particular positions on the pitch, e.g. a goalkeeper will typically want to be wearing number one. Over the years, the number nine shirt has been indelibly linked to the best strikers that have ever played the beautiful game – pick a goal machine from yesteryear, and there’s a strong chance that they had the magic digit on their backs.
Wwhat happens if a club has more than one ego-driven striker, and the number is already taken by another squad member? That’s when players have become creative. When Brazilian icon Ronaldo joined AC Milan in 2006, he was dismayed to learn that fellow frontman Filippo Inzaghi already had ownership of the prized nine jersey.
Whether innocently chosen or as an act of ego-powered defiance, Ronaldo opted for the somewhat unexpected squad number of 99 – perhaps trying to indicate he was twice the striker that Inzaghi was. Ronaldo was also the cause for a similar rift at Inter Milan. When he joined the club, he was regarded as the best striker in the world, so demands to wear the number nine shirt were taken seriously.
It meant that poor old Ivan Zamorano, the incumbent number nine, had to give up his shirt and select a new number. And so he did: 18, with a tiny ‘+’ symbol between the digits to represent 1 + 8.
Strange squad numbers: Ivan Zamorano 1+8
Zamerano was number 9 at Inter until 1998 when he give his number to Ronaldo. He decided on squad number 18 and added a + sign in the middle of the number, 1+8=9. pic.twitter.com/2AHJFXXp3Q
— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) August 13, 2019
The World Cup winner isn’t the only attacking player to try and fudge their squad number and get a variation of nine on their shirt. Mario Balotelli also found himself unable to claim his desired digit due to Inter Milan’s policy of ringfencing the numbers 36-50 for their young players.
And so, unable to get his hands on nine as an up-and-coming youngster, he opted for 45… because 4 + 5 = 9, of course. The concept stuck, so Balotelli wore 45 wherever he went in his nomadic playing career.
Random Acts
It’s amazing how many professional footballers don’t really care about what squad number they wear… leading to some random selections being made. Most think that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s choice of 66 at Liverpool is something of a homage to England’s World Cup winning team of 1966. But it isn’t: the number was instead chosen at random by the Reds’ kit manager Lee Radcliffe, who explained:
When we get any young lads that come down from the academy, we always deliberately try to give them a high-ish number. We don’t like to give them a low number in case they sort of think they’ve made it straight away.
Other random squad number selections include Declan Rice (41), Nicolas Anelka and Scott McTominay (both 39), who were each assigned their digits at West Ham, Arsenal and Manchester United respectively completely by pot luck.
The Downright Bizarre
Bixente Lizarazu chose the squad number 69 not for some risqué, nudge nudge wink wink reason, but because he was born in 1969, stood 169cm tall and weighed, during his playing days at least, 69kg. Nicolas Bendtner was told by a clairvoyant that his lucky number was seven. But, when he joined Arsenal, that figure had already been taken, and so he went for 52 instead (the classic 5 + 2 trick).
As for Gianluigi Buffon, he wore 88 because it reminded him of four balls together; metaphorically, ‘having balls’ is considered to be a show of strength, determination and courage. But then the Jewish contingent of Parma’s fanbase accused him of an antisemitic gesture: H being the eighth letter of the alphabet, and thus 88 being construed as ‘Heil Hitler’. Sometimes, you just can’t win…
.jpg){kind=link}