Defensive-midfield: Marc-Vivien Foe
Foe tragically died while playing for Cameroon against Colombia in the semi-final of the 2003 Confederations Cup. He collapsed in the 72nd minute of the match and his death was caused by a heart condition. Afterwards, Manchester City retired his 23 shirt and Lens and Lyon both retired the number 17 shirt he wore during spells with both French clubs. Lyon did use the number 17 shirt again when they signed fellow Cameroonian, Jean Makoun,
who said: In memory of Marc, for me and the whole of Cameroon, this will be something.
Attacking-midfield:Roberto Baggio
Brescia retired the number 10 shirt previously worn by Roberto Baggio despite him only spending four years at the club. Baggio ended his career at Brescia, captaining the team and helping them avoid relegation to Serie B. He scored 45 goals in 95 games for the club. In the season after his retirement, Brescia were relegated.
Left-midfield:Lukas Podolski
I have bent the rules only slightly to get a bit of width into my team. Podolski enjoyed two spells at FC Koln and as a result the club will not re-issue the number 10 shirt worn by Podolski while the German striker is still playing professional football. It has not been officially retired and may be allocated to another player when Podolski retires from professional football.
Right-midfield:Gianfranco Zola
Zolas Chelsea 25 shirt hasnt been officially retired. But since Zola left Chelsea in 2003, 10 years ago, no one has worn number 25 leading to a lot of speculation that it has in fact been retired. In early 2003 Zola was voted Chelseas greatest ever player by Chelsea fans. He is most remembered for a back-heeled goal against Norwich in 2002 and manager at the time, Claudio Ranieri,
explained the goal by saying: Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard and the wizard must try.
Right-forward:Diego Maradona
Maradona is one of the greatest footballers ever and despite leaving Napoli in disgrace, the club later retired his number 10 shirt. Maradona left Napoli after serving a 15-month ban for failing a drug test for cocaine. Argentina also retired his number 10 in 2001 but it was later rejected by FIFA. The number 10 is now worn by Lionel Messi who Maradona describes as his successor.
Left-forward:Johan Cruyff
So good he has a skill named after him, Ajax retired his number 14 shirt in 2007. His love-affair with Ajax started when he joined them at 10 years old. He enjoyed two successful spells at the club as a player before returning as a manager. He returned once again in 2011, this time in an advisory role.
Centre-forward:Raul
Rivalling Malagas decision to retire Iscos number 22 as the most bizarre shirt retirement ever is Schalkes decision to retire Rauls number 7 shirt. The Spaniard had his shirt number retired after just two seasons at the German club. The striker was as clinical as ever at Schalke 04, scoring 40 goals in 98 games. Two of Schalkes legendary players Olaf Thon and Ingo Anderbrugge spoke out criticising the decision. They were both probably quite annoyed at the decision, having played for Schalke more than 600 times between them while Raul never even reached a century of games.