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Following Ronaldinho's allocation of the number 80 shirt by Milan, we take a look at some other bizarre squad numbers.

0 - Worn by Aberbeen striker Hicham Zerouali after Dons fans realised the humour potential of his surname's first four letters. Zerouali sadly died in a car crash in 2004, prompting the club to 'retire' the number.

1 - Worn by Argentina midfielder Osvaldo Ardiles at the 1982 World Cup. Squad numbers were allocated by alphabetical order - the only exception was Diego Maradona - 12th alphabetically but given the number '10' shirt.

5 - Worn by midfielder Ronnie Whelan at Liverpool. Might not seem too revolutionary, but those old enough to remember 'proper' numbers will recall '5' was always worn by a centre-back. Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson took '4' and '6' respectively.

08 - Worn by Steven Gerrard and James Beattie during a Merseyside derby in 2006 to promote Liverpool as the 2008 European capital of culture. Gerrard was sent off.

1+8 - Worn by Internazionale striker Ivan Zamorano from 1997 to 2000. In his first season the Chilean wore '9', which was then given to new signing Ronaldo. Zamorano took '18', but inserted a plus sign between the digits.

9 - Worn by madcap Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos, who started his career as a striker and spent the rest of it playing like one. Also worn several times by Jens Lehmann playing for Germany.

10 - Normally the preserve of genius playmaker, with few lesser mortals daring to take on football's most hallowed number. Not so William Gallas, who pounced on it following Dennis Bergkamp's exit from Arsenal.

12 - Number often allocated to the fans, who are designated 'The Twelfth Man'. A large number of clubs have retired their '12' shirt, including Aberdeen, Bayern Munich, Plymouth Argyle, Flamengo, Lazio and Scunthorpe United.

28 - Requested by Cristiano Ronaldo when he joined Manchester United as he had worn it at Sporting Lisbon. Was eventually persuaded to take '7', following in the footsteps of George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham.

51 - Highest number worn in a Premier League game, by Chelsea youngster Sam Hutchinson. Several others, including Cesc '57' Fabregas have worn higher in domestic cup games.

69 - Worn by cheeky French left-back Bixente Lizarazu at Bayern Munich. Lizarazu claimed it was merely his lucky number and he may have a point. It is his year of birth, weight in kilogrammes and height (1.69m).

88 - Worn by Gianluigi Buffon at Parma, landing him in hot water. The number has fascist connotations, as did a slogan written on his t-shirt during one match. Buffon denied all knowledge and now sports the number one along with some natty bandanas.

99 - Worn by Ronaldo (the portly, Brazilian one) at AC Milan after he was unable to persuade Filippo Inzaghi to take '1+8'. Also used by Portugal goalkeeper Vitor Baia and numerous Serie A strikers including Cristiano Lucarelli.

618 - Possibly the highest number ever worn by a footballer. Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni (another free-kick and penalty taker) wore it to commemorate his record 618th appearance before reverting to his usual '01'.

Alex Chick / Eurosport