5 players with unusual jersey numbers

Although squad numbers aren't much talked about in football, they do signify the position a players plays in. For instance, the number 7 is worn traditionally by right winger, number 9 by pure strikers and the most prestigious, the No.10, by the most skillful player. However, there are certain players in the past who took the road less travelled and chose to wear numbers which were very different and distinct, and ranged from their year of birth to their body weight. Here's a list of 5 players with unusual jersey numbers:

#1 Hicham Zerouali

The Moroccan striker was given the moniker 'Zero', as the first four letters of his surname spelt the number and on that account, adorned his shirt wih the same number during his stint in Scotland with Aberdeen.

He was the first player in Scotland to sport the number 0, which was outlawed by the Scottish League the following season.

#2 Mathieu Flamini

The Arsenal midfielder moved to AC Milan in the summer of 2008 on a free transfer where he chose to sport the numner '84', that signifies his year of birth, 1984.

Owing to the vast squad that the Italian side possessed, most of the first team numbers had already been taken and just like his Rossonerri team-mates, Andriy Shevchenko (76) and Ronaldinho (80) before him, the Frenchman too resorted to his birth year as his shirt number.

#3 Ivan Zamorano

In his debut season wih Inter Milan, Zamorano donned the number 9 jersey, but was later assigned the number 18 shirt following the arrival of Ronaldo.

Due to his great love for the number 9, he inserted a small “+” sign between the 1 and the 8 on his jersey.

#4 Victor Perales

The Mexican international was handed the 143 shirt number for his first season by his club side Club Deportivo Guadalajara. The centre-back then moved to no.15 the following season onwards.

However, that was probably the only memorable part of his career at the club as he was moved on in the summer of 2014 after having made only a handful of appearances.

#5 Bixente Lizarazu

The World Cup winning Lizarazu probably had the weirdest reasons behind his jersey number for his second spell at Bayern Munich. When he chose to sport the number 69, it was widely thought that there were lewd reasons behind his decision.

However, Lizarazu revealed the truth stating that he was born in the year 1969, weighed 69 kilograms and measured 1.69m in height, and so the number 69.