10 weird jersey numbers worn by footballers
Footballers, over the years, have acquired the reputation for being eccentric entities. Their off the pitch adventures have been well documented in the recent times and with the kind of money being thrown around these days, their adventures off the pitch are only expected to attract further attention.
However, some players decided to mix business and pleasure and perhaps the only way to do that would be with the numbers they wear and trust us on this, there have been quite a few choices of numbers amongst footballers.
In this segment, we take a look at 10 of the weirdest numbers ever worn by professional footballers.
Honourable mentions
Milan Baros – 5 (Liverpool)
Edgar David – 1 (Barnet)
Bixent Lizarazu – 69 (Bayern Munich)
Zamorano – 1+8 (Inter Milan)
Mathieu Flamini – 84 (A C Milan)
Andriy Shevchenko – 76 (A C Milan)
Vitor Baia – 99 (Porto)
The former Portuguese shot stopper had considerable success at Porto during the late '80s and early '90s before moving on to the Spanish super weights Barcelona in the summer of 1996.
After a good start to his career at Camp Nou, a series of injuries coupled with the appointment of Louis van Gaal meant that Baia was deemed surplus to requirements at the club and subsequently sent back on loan to Porto in January 1999.
However, upon arriving at his former club, the goalkeeper realised that the number 1 position was not available at the club and hence decided to opt for 99, a number weird for any footballer, let alone a goalkeeper.
Although, we would also like to mention that the change in numbers probably proved beneficial to the player as well as Porto as not only did their shirt sales shoot up, Baia also played a critical role in his side lifting 5 Primeira Liga titles and 1 UEFA Cup as well as a UEFA Champions League.