World Cup 2014: The number 10 – accidental heroes?

It’s the magic number. It’s the number 10 shirt. It’s the shirt worn by the greatest players in the history of the game – Pele, Maradona – and the potential pretender to that throne, Messi. From Puskas to Platini to Baggio, Matthaus and Zidane, the number 10 shirt has mythical attributes, surely, but they have come almost by accident.

Before 1950, players competed without numbers on their back. The man who inaugurated the shirt, Jair Rosa, was the first and Jose Lazaro wore the number in 1954. His nickname was Pinga, and he scored two goals in his debut against Mexico.

Pele gave the shirt its gravitas. Wearing it in 1958 by blind draw, he was a child sensation. Then in 1970, he was the crown jewel of a tiara of a team.

SEE ALSO: The top 5 players wearing the #10 jersey in the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Johan Cryuff,, a midfield orchestrator if there ever was one, decided 14 was his number when he came back from an injury at Ajax, and wore that instead of his normal number 9 in 1974. Zidane chose number 5 as his signature at Real Madrid, even though he was a “10? in role. But at the World Cup he wore #10. And now there are many reasons to don different numbers ? including Balotelli’s “45? and Zamorano’s quirky “1+8.”

But in the World Cup, it will be old school, numbers 1 through 23.

Cruyff’s number 14 was imitated, but it didn’t stick with a succession of great ones. But since Maradona, who took the moniker “El Diez” as a nom de guerre, the weight of the history of the number has been too much for some to bear.

There is a thin line between consecration and condemnation. Rivelino and Zico wore the talisman in 1974 through 1986, and although they were sterling players, they were not crowned with the title. Rivaldo did attain the world championship in 2002.

For Brazil, Rai (1994) and Kaka (2010) disappointed with that shirt number, but they both won World Cups (Rai in 1994, albeit on the bench for the final match, and Kaka in 2002, when he was a substitute).

SEE ALSO: 7 insane moments in World Cup history

In Argentina, we may take the expulsion of Maradona and the implosion of the team in 1994 as a curse on the shirt. Ortega in 1998 and 2002, Riquelme in 2006, and now Messi wears the shirt with the gravitas that can weaken even titans. But there is some power in the number. Even if fortuitous, it seems to impart a certain mystique.

In the last World Cup, Diego Forlan, chosen the best player in the last world Cup, wore the number 10.

Looka at pictures from 1978 or 1982, you will see Osvaldo Ardiles with the number 1 on his back. In 1978 and 1982, Argentina used an alphabetical system to hand out numbers. Kempes wore #10 in 1978 for purely alphabetical reasons.

They say the number 10 is an endangered species. But they are still around, just evolved: Andrea Pirlo of Italy is a more withdrawn version.

Maybe the new number 10 is really a European. Andres Iniesta does a hybrid version of the role for Spain, and Mesut Ozil’s silky playmaking may take Germany a long way. All the way to Rio, perhaps?