Players in the past strictly stuck to the numbers from 1 to 11, and now there is almost no football player who does not wear a two-digit number on his back—some out of superstition, another out of jest, a third out of respect.

Johan Cruyff

🗣️ Johan Cruyff:

“Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then go and work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right time, to the correct foot of your team mate.” pic.twitter.com/eAkZAldY9w

— 💚THE REAL 💥Murvan💚 Draganof💥 (@Draganof4) March 26, 2023

Football revolutionary, eternal rebel, football rocker, world legend – Johan Cruyff. One of the greatest players of all time.

Johan Cruyff joined Ajax’s academy when he was ten years old, but he preferred to play baseball. Only when, five years later, the coach advised him to choose football he focused more on his career in the club from Amsterdam.

Even as a teenager, the legendary Dutchman liked to go against the rules. That’s why he insisted on wearing the number 14 on his shirt, even though it was against the regulations of the Dutch Football Association, which required that the players’ numbers in the first team be from 1 to 11.

Cruyff’s insistence on wearing the number 14 caused even more problems at the 1974 World Cup. At that time, FIFA proposed that the players receive numbers from 1 to 22 alphabetically, which the Dutchman opposed.

Thierry Henry

Legendary Arsenal striker Thierry Henry said the only reason he chose number 14 upon joining the club was the fact that his favourite number was already taken.

Henry had a legendary career in the “Gunners” shirt while wearing the number 14. During his brief return to the “Emirates” in 2012, the Frenchman chose the number 12, and he admits that he would have made the same choice in the first transfer if the number 12 had been available.

“When I came back, I chose the number 12, which is actually my favourite number. 14 is not my number and I only took it because Christopher Weah was wearing 12 at the time, and I didn’t want to take it from him. I love the number 12 because of Marco Van Basten, I remember him from Euro 1988”, was the explanation of the French goalscorer.

Xabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso won almost all the most prestigious things that a footballer can win: he was the world champion in 2010 and a double European champion in 2008 and 2012 with Spain, a double winner of the Champions League with Liverpool in the unforgettable final in 2005 against AC Milan in Istanbul, then with Real in 2014. Alonso played in Germany for Bayern Munich between 2014 and 2017.

Now, this great midfielder is a successful manager. He led the youth team of Real Madrid and the B team of Real Sociedad for three seasons and now he has a real challenge as manager of the Bundesliga team Bayer Leverkusen.

He was strong, fast, and incredibly smart, which meant a lot in modern football. Practically reading the game, this football player can ingeniously carry out the actions of his colleagues, directing the course of the match in one direction or another.

Xabi Alonso is a player who has long been considered one of the best midfielders in world football. Besides his great abilities, he was known for always picking number 14 on his jersey.

Aymeric Laporte

One of the best central defenders in the Premier League, a member of the champion Manchester City Laporte has picked number 14 since he joined this team back in 2018.

Laporte is also a member of the Spanish national football team, and even though he is still very young, he has had an amazing career so far. We cannot say he has a perfect career, as he still hasn’t won the Champions League. However, he is one of the best players who wears number 14.

Jordan Henderson

When he came to the club in 2011, at the request of Kenny Dalglish and for money that, realistically, is justified only by his passport, he could be forgiven for not having disappeared yet.

He was twenty years old and was voted the best player in his native Sunderland for two seasons in a row; he was standard in his first year at Liverpool, but then Brendan Rodgers arrived and immediately showed him the exit door. He decided to stay anyway, and then his career only progressed; he became vice-captain when Daniel Agger left, then full-fledged armband-bearer when Steven Gerrard left.

Henderson slowly became an icon in Liverpool and the leader of the team. Even now, we can say that he is the best player in Liverpool who ever wore number 14 on the jersey.

Alexander Isak

Swedish striker Alexander Isak moved to Newcastle United for compensation of up to 65 million euros with 5 million potential bonuses. The football player signed a long-term contract with “Magpies” until 2027, and he picked number 14 right away.

The player arrived in Newcastle as the most expensive signing in history, overtaking Bruno Guimaraes, who arrived from Lyon earlier in the half-season for 42 million euros. With this transfer, Isak also became the most valuable player of the Spanish club Real Sociedad.