Football players’ jersey numbers have a lot of meaning in the sport. Assaulting midfielders, magicians, and dazzling dribblers all come to mind when wearing the number 10 shirt. Fast wingers are represented by the number seven jersey, while great attackers are represented by the number nine jersey.
The greatest honor in football was recently bestowed upon select players by having their jersey number retired. The following list features six great footballers whose jersey numbers were retired for peculiar, emotional, or symbolic reasons:
1. Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea J25)
Although Zola’s number 25 shirt hasn’t been officially retired, no player has worn it since he departed the team nearly 14 years ago.
2. Paolo Maldini (AC Milan J3)
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Possibly the best defender to ever play the game of football was Paolo Maldini. He spent his entire playing career with AC Milan. Due to this, AC Milan decided to honorably retire his number three jersey.
Only a player with the Maldini surname, so the rumor goes, can bring Milan’s number three out of retirement.
Paulo Maldini’s son Daniel recently earned his AC Milan debut, but unlike his father and grandfather, the 20-year-old is an attacker.
3. Marc-Vivien Foe (Man City J23)
While serving with Cameroon overseas, Foe passed away from a heart attack. If not for a fractured leg, the sluggish midfielder would have joined Manchester United in 1999.
The deceased Cameroonian’s number 23 shirt was retired at Manchester City following the terrible tragedy, and Leeds United also did the same with their number 17.
4. Daniel Jarque (Espanyol J21)
Another player who left us way too young was Daniel Jarque. Along with players like Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres, he was a part of Spain’s Under-19 team that won the Euro Championship. Just one month after being named Espanyol captain, he died at the age of 26 from a heart attack. Iniesta paid a poignant homage to his friend by dedicating his World Cup-winning goal to him. Also retired by Espanyol was his number 21 shirt.
5. Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan J4)
The blue half of Inter Milan did the same thing as the red half of Milan by ensuring that Javier Zanetti’s number four jersey would never be worn again.
6. Diego Maradona (Napoli J10)
One of the best athletes of all time is Diego Maradona. Serie A championships were won by Napoli under the late Argentine. At a time when the Italian team was having trouble in Serie A, this was sufficient to make Maradona a local hero in Naples. With Napoli, he also captured the Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup, and Italian Super Cup.
Given all of these, it is not surprising that his number 10 jersey has been retired. Even storied Napoli players like Marek Hamsik and Dries Mertens weren’t given Maradona’s jersey number 10.