In football, the No.10 jersey is revered. The number has an aura that has eluded others in the same family. Okay, No.10 is the basic part of the decimal system and it offers a sense of completeness, alone or in multiples.
But the significance the number carries in football, at international level as well as in a neighbourhood game, dwarfs the value of numerals printed on the back of other players. Why? The performance of Ferenc Puskas at the 1954 World Cup could be one of the reasons.
The Hungarian legend, wearing No. 10, took Switzerland by storm. It was the first World Cup in which jersey numbers were made mandatory. Until 1950, World Cup jerseys had no numbers. Even though Puskas ended up on the losing side in the ’54 final, he had already done enough to make No. 10 noticeable. The guy who had No.10 as a member of the winning side in the next edition certainly added mystic to the number. Pele’s association with No. 10 was a seminal moment in the No. 10 folklore.
Jerseys with numbers were introduced in the English league from 1939. It was borrowed from baseball and Australian Rules Football. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, every player of two Sydney teams wore a different number on his back for an ARF match in 1911.
In the beginning, numbers were assigned from the back to the front, meaning they indicated playing positions (goalkeeper got 1; defenders were given 2 to 5). Puskas had No. 10 because he was a forward. In Fifa tournaments, it is compulsory to have the squad numbered from 1 to 23. Clubs have the freedom to choose anything between 1 and 99. Curiously, the pull of No. 10 is not as strong in club football.
The romantic notion about No. 10 grew stronger with each World Cup after1954. Geoff Hurst, England’s hat-trick hero in the 1966 final, wore 10. Mario Kempes, who won the golden shoe as well as the MVP in Argentina’s triumph in 1978, added his bit to the power of ten.
By the 80s, No. 10 had firmly established its prima donna status among jersey numerals. In course of time, the number moved down from the forward line to grace a few midfield maestros such as Michel Platini, Zico and Maradona.
Famous No. 10s in recent WC editions: Matthaeus, Baggio, Zidane, Totti and Jay Jay Okocha.
No. 10s at the 2010 WC: Lionel Messi (Argentina), Kaka (Brazil), Wayne Rooney (England), Lukas Podolski (Germany) and Cesc Fabregas (Spain).