If Hatem Ben Arfa’s switch to Real Valladolid this week came as something of a surprise, so did his choice of shirt number. Despite having more obvious alternatives available for an attacking midfielder — No 8, for example — Ben Arfa elected to wear No 3. Even he couldn’t really explain it.
“It’s a number that…well, there were a few options, so I took the No 3,” he explained at his press conference. “I find that it makes a pretty shape on the shirt,” he continued, outlining the digit in the air. Apparently the symmetrical equivalent of that “shape”, No 8, didn’t offer the same aesthetic qualities to the Frenchman.
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No 3 is not a particularly magic number in football, although it’s unquestionably sexier than No 2. The tendency for left-backs to be more attack-minded than right-backs — they’re more often converted left-footed midfielders or wingers, rather than converted centre-backs — means 3 promises more dynamism, overlapping and set-piece quality.
No 3 is not exclusively a number for a left-back, of course, and the explanation for the differences are largely similar to that of the No 2 shirt. In England, the left-sided full-back in a 2-3-5 spread wide once the centre-half and then right-half dropped back to form a three and four-man defence.
For the right-back, the English pattern was followed in Brazil, but not in Argentina, where instead the right-half — the No 4 — dropped backwards.
But it’s the reverse on the opposite flank. The pattern was followed in Argentina, with the No 3 becoming the left-back, but in Brazil it was the left-half — the No 6 — who retreated into that position, with the No 3 remaining the centre-back. And therefore an Argentine side will traditionally be numbered 4-2-6-3 across the back, while a Brazilian side will be 2-4-3-6. Essentially, the defence is divided into two halves, and the full-backs and centre-backs are reversed.
Uruguay is a blend of the two — the right half of the Brazilian defence, and the left half of the Argentine defence. It is, therefore, the Uruguayan system which is most logical in terms of its development from the 2-3-5 formation, with the left-half and right-half, No 4 and No 6, dropping back to form 4-2-3-6. The numbers generally considered the domain of full-backs are, in Uruguay, given to the centre-backs — Diego Godin has always worn No 2 at club level, and No 3 at international level.
It’s only Argentina of these countries, then, where the No 3 is the left-back, and that history was underlined by the experience of Juan Pablo Sorin at Villarreal. Although Sorin had worn a variety of numbers throughout his career, his favourite was evidently the No 3 shirt, which he wore for both River Plate and Paris Saint-Germain. But upon arriving at Villarreal in 2004 he discovered that number was already taken — fittingly, by another Argentine left-back, Rodolfo Arruabarrena. Sorin, therefore, elected to wear No 12, and then introduced a “+” between the digits in an Ivan Zamorano-esque attempt to prove he was still wearing the No 3 — 1+2. This went further when he extended the bottom stem of the “+” downwards, turning it to a cross to demonstrate his commitment to religion as well as his favoured shirt number.
Arsenal’s Aleksandr Hleb and Villarreal’s Juan Pablo Sorin, with his 1 + 2 shirt (Photo: John Walton – PA Images via Getty Images)Given that the No 3 shirt can be reasonably used by either a left-back or a left-sided centre-back, the most fitting wearers are those who can play in either role. The most notable wearer of No 3, therefore, is Paolo Maldini.
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Despite being naturally right-footed and making his first few AC Milan appearances on the right of defence, the presence of Mauro Tassotti meant he broke into the side on the left and remained in that position for over a decade, before gradually moving inside to play as a left-sided centre-back during his later years. He became so comfortable on his left foot many didn’t realise he was originally more comfortable with his right.
Upon Maldini’s retirement in 2009, Milan retired the No 3 shirt — as they had with the No 6 for Franco Baresi — although they promised to bring it out of retirement should either of Maldini’s sons become a Milan first-teamer. Daniel Maldini, 18, is currently in Milan’s youth system and therefore could yet become eligible for the shirt, and while he’s a right-footed attacking midfielder, it would be tough to resist seeing “Maldini 3” in the red and black stripes once again. Indeed, Paolo’s father Cesare, an elegant sweeper in the 1950s and 1960s, sometimes wore that number, meaning Daniel would become a third-generation Milan No 3.
It’s also worth outlining the unusual situation in Holland and Belgium, where defenders are numbered completely differently to every other major footballing nation: traditionally, they are simply numbered 2-3-4-5 across the defence. The most unusual aspect of this is clearly the No 5 playing left-back, although it’s also strange to witness a No 3 as a right-sided centre-back. The likes of Jaap Stam, Toby Alderweireld and now Joel Veltman have worn that number for Ajax over the years — all of them capable of playing right-back rather than left-back.
Not all teams play a four-man defence, however, and shirt numbers can become tricky when adjusting to a three-man backline. In England, the usual approach when moving to that formation was simple: the No 2 and No 3 shifted forward to become wing-backs. That’s still largely the case, typified in recent years by Marcos Alonso — very obviously more comfortable as a wing-back than a full-back — wearing No 3. It’s peculiar how much a shirt number can define the aura of a wing-back — if he or she wears 11 or 7, rather than 3 or 2, it automatically feels more dangerous, more daring.
A No 3 anywhere else feels fundamentally wrong, although there are more memorable examples of No 3 playing at right-back than No 2 at left-back. Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna wore that shirt with some distinction for seven years, while Maicon had a less successful stint wearing No 3 for Manchester City. Tottenham Hotspur had a period in the early 1990s when they consistently used No 2 and No 3 the wrong way around, as detailed by the excellent Squad Numbers blog.
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Liverpool have also had two notable No 3s who were right-backs — Abel Xavier and Steve Finnan were capable of playing on the left, but much more comfortable on the right. Meanwhile, Fabinho wore No 2 at Monaco when generally playing in central midfield, which was entirely accepted as he’d initially been signed as a right-back. He now wears No 3 for Liverpool, which is altogether less reasonable, although his commanding presence means he manages to make it look entirely natural. He’s also following in the footsteps of a Liverpool predecessor, albeit not during his Liverpool days — Xabi Alonso’s favourite No 14 shirt was taken when he moved to Bayern Munich, so he took No 3.
The most memorable attack-minded No 3 is Asamoah Gyan, best remembered for his Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup exploits with Ghana. He also wore No 3 for Udinese, Rennes, Sunderland and during his adventures in Qatar, Dubai, China, Turkey and India. “Three is the shirt I wore as a teenager in Ghana. It is a powerful number. If you are lifting something heavy, you count to three before you lift. If you want to warn someone, you warn them once, then twice and the third time you take action,” he explained.
Upon his arrival at Sunderland, the No 3 shirt was already taken by Kieran Richardson, so Gyan wore No 33 until the following summer, when Richardson switched to accommodate Gyan in his favoured number.
Indeed, Richardson deserves great credit for his squad number changes throughout his period at Sunderland — he wore No 10 when signed as an attacking midfielder, switched to No 3 when predominantly played at left-back before moving to No 11 when pushed forward to the left wing.
If only more players had such respect for tradition.
(Photo: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
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