"What's in a number?"
The 2024 FC Dallas season officially kicks off this Saturday. Before you make your way to Toyota Stadium for the Home Opener, let's find out why each FC Dallas player picked (or didn't) the number they'll wear on the back of their shirts. Some numbers carry personal sentiment for their wearers, some are just standard for the player's position, and some are completely random. Regardless, here are the players' explanation for their choices.
#1 - Jimmy Maurer
Up first is goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer who swapped his previous #20 shirt for the traditional #1 back in 2021.
His explanation at the time: "I've always liked the number 1, I've worn it in the past. I don't have a deep reasoning or anything but I realized it was available and thought it was a good time to change. I talked to people in the club and no one had any problems with it. There's no real exciting story behind it but it's tradition for a veteran goalkeeper to wear the #1 and decided I'd take it."
#2 - Geovane Jesus
Brazilian defender Geovane Jesus (who's currently rehabbing from an ACL injury) wears the #2 jersey in honor of his idol, Cafu. A retired legend of the game, Cafu was a world-class right back known for his contributions to the attack. He won two World Cups with Brazil and was a mainstay in the great AC Milan teams of the mid 2000s. As far as idols go, Geovane picked a good one.
#3 - Omar Gonzalez
New signing and Dallas native Omar Gonzalez will wear #3 in his first season with FC Dallas. Three is a typical number for a center back but Gonzalez admits that it wasn't his first choice:
"Number 3 is the number I wore in the World Cup so it's still special to me. Number 4 is my preference but 3 is just fine."
#4 - Marco Farfan
Reliable defender Marco Farfan has worn the No. 4 jersey since joining the club in 2022.
"I used to always be #32 from my academy days at Portland and then LAFC. But I thought with a new team I'd go ahead and pick a new one so I went with four."
#6 - Patrickson Delgado
Ecuadorian midfielder Patrickson Delgado will wear the #6 jersey, last worn by FCD Homegrown Edwin Cerrillo. Delgado’s reasoning for choosing 6 is that it’s the number worn by French World Cup winner Paul Pogba, who Delgado believes is one of the best defensive mids in the world.
#7 - Paul Arriola
FC Dallas captain Paul Arriola also picked his #7 shirt to follow in the footsteps of one of his idols:
"My favorite player growing up was David Beckham so I always loved #7 and wanted it on my back as well."
#8 - Sebastian Lletget
Our first number change this year goes to midfielder Sebastian Lletget who swapped his previous #12 for #8 beginning this season. It's traditional for a box-to-box midfielder to wear #8 but there's also a deeper meaning: a tribute to his late sister.
"It's the first time in my career that I've had the chance to wear a single digit number so picked #8 since it was my sister's favorite number."
#9 - Petar Musa
FC Dallas' record signing Petar Musa will wear the #9 jersey, vacated by Jesús Jiménez who parted ways with FCD this offseason. The meaning is tied to the position. It's customary for a club's first-choice center forward to wear the 9 jersey, and as FCD's record signing, Musa will be expected to lead the line going forward.
#10 - Jesús Ferreira
Jesús Ferreira has worn four different numbers for FC Dallas: 27, 7, 9 and finally 10, which he's worn since 2022. The #10 jersey is iconic in soccer, of course, but it was also the jersey that his father, David, wore during his decorated FC Dallas career.
#11 - Dante Sealy
FC Dallas Homegrown Dante Sealy has worn #11 since returning from his two-year loan to PSV midway through last season (after previously wearing #31).
"As an attacking-minded player it's always good to wear 11. A lot of the biggest players and my idols growing up wore 11, so why not?"
#13 - Antonio Carrera
Like Arriola and Geovane, Homegrown goalkeeper Antonio Carrera picked his number 13 to follow in the footsteps of one of his idols, Mexico international goalkeeper Memo Ochoa.
"Ever since I was little, I grew up watching Ochoa play and he was number 13. So, when I joined FC Dallas at the age of 10, I had the chance to pick 13 so I took it. And I've been 13 since then on."
#14 - Asier Illarramendi
Spaniard Asier Illarramendi has worn #14 since joining Dallas midway through 2023. Although #14 doesn’t have any specific meaning to the former Real Sociedad and Madrid midfielder, it was picked for him by his girlfriend. So he can’t exactly go and change it now, can he?
#15 - Isaiah Parker
Defender Isaiah Parker who will wear No. 15 for the third season in a row. While the number was assigned to him after joining the team, #15 also has a special meaning as Parker's brother, Elijah, wore the same number.
#16 - Tsiki Ntsabeleng
Similar to Parker, Tsiki Ntsabeleng was given the #16 after signing with the team via the MLS SuperDraft. The South African says he likes the number despite having no prior ties to it.
#17 - Nkosi Tafari
In a maneuver worthy of Jesús Ferreira, defender Nkosi Tafari has changed his number three times so far. Tafari wears #17 after wearing #14 in 2021 and #28 during his rookie season.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I chose it because it was open and I wore 17 in college at Connecticut and Seattle. I look at it almost like how Pokemon has stages and evolutions. I had 28, then 14, and now we're at the final stage at the number I wanted (17) and can feel confident using."
#18 - Liam Fraser
Like Illarramendi, Liam Fraser joined FCD halfway through 2023 and has worn #18 since. His reasoning is simple:
“Because Nacho (FCD’s kitman) gave it to me.”
#19 - Paxton Pomykal
The number 19 is special in Dallas. It's the number late club legend Bobby Rhine wore during his decade playing for the club. The number was quasi retired following Bobby's tragic passing in 2011 but Paxton Pomykal asked the Rhine family if he could wear the number in Bobby's memory after signing his first pro deal.
#20 - Alan Velasco
Alan Velasco has worn #20 since joining Dallas ahead of the 2022 season from Independiente. Although he's currently rehabbing from an ACL tear, expect Velasco to return with a vengeance late in the season wearing his #20, which he chose because, "there weren't many options and I thought 20 looked nice." Fair enough.
#22 - Ema Twumasi
Defender Ema Twumasi will wear #22 once again. The number is a nod to his collegiate career with Wake Forest:
"I wore 22 in college. I guess Wake Forest had a lot of people who wore 22 and did great things so the coach believed in me and gave me that one."
#23 - Logan Farrington
This year’s third overall SuperDraft pick Logan Farrington didn’t have many numbers to choose from. Still, he wound up with an iconic one: #23.
“Out of the options I had, I liked it the best. Michael Jordan’s number, so that’s basically the reason.”
#24 - Amet Korça
The number #24 is iconic at FC Dallas because it's the number former captain Matt Hedges wore for 11 seasons. Hedges is the club’s all-time appearance leader and one of its best-ever players. Following his departure, fellow center back and Arlington native Amet Korça inherited it and hopes to live up to its lofty billing.
#25 - Sebastien Ibeagha
Sebastien Ibeagha is similar to center back partner Omar Gonzalez in that he's wearing his second-choice number, in this case #25. Although he'd prefer #5, Ibeagha did wear #25 to good effect when he played for LAFC. Ibeaga helped LAFC win the MLS Cup in 2022, something he'd love to do for Dallas this season.
#27 - Herbert Endeley
We're in the mid 20s so we're at the point where many of these numbers are just assigned to the player when they joined. That’s the case for wingback Herbert Endeley, who was given #27 when he joined via the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
#29 - Sam Junqua
It's a similar story for Sam Junqua, albeit for a different club originally:
"When I first got to Houston, the kitman came to me and said 'Wilmer Cebrera says you're #29' and I said 'Alright, okay' and I've stuck with it every since."
#30 - Maarten Paes
Goalkeeper Maarten Paes, will wear No. 30 for the third-consecutive season.
"I had some options and 30 was the one I liked the most. I arrived quite late (in my first season) so there weren't many options. No. 13 was an option but I didn't want that since it could be bad luck. So I said 'just give me a round number and I'm good.'"
#31 - Eugene Ansah
In another case of second-choice numbers, Eugene Ansah settled for 31. Still, his story has a small wrinkle to it:
"All my career I wore #13. But when I came here, someone already had it so I switched the numbers. Thirty-one is a number of new beginnings."
#32 - Nolan Norris
Homegrown midfielder/defender Nolan Norris will wear 32 in his second pro season, a number he's worn many times in FCD colors:
"When I joined the Academy, they gave me number 32 and I had it all the whole way through. So, when I signed with the First Team I chose to keep 32."
#34 - Alejandro Urzua
Alejandro Urzua signed as FCD’s 36th Homegrown player during this offseason and was assigned #34. According to him, "it's just a number."
#35 - Tomas Pondeca
Midfielder Tomas Pondeca joined FC Dallas this offseason and will #35, the number assigned to him. But there's more to that number than he initially thought:
“I didn’t really pick it, it was assigned to me. But yesterday I got a fortune cookie and it said it was one of my lucky numbers."
#36 - Malik Henry-Scott
Malik Henry-Scott is Dallas’ newest Homegrown signing and he chose the #36 because “it was just there, there’s no real reason.”
#41 - Tarik Scott
Much like fellow Homegrown Nolan Norris, Tarik Scott chose the No. 41 jersey because it was the number he wore throughout his FCD Academy days.
"It was really convenient for both of us that our options had to be over 30."
#77 - Bernard Kamungo
Bernard Kamungo's journey to the pro level is widely agreed to be the best story in Major League Soccer. The story behind his jersey number is a little less exciting, though. Bernie wears #77 because his first-choice, the #7, was taken by captain Paul Arriola.
#99 - Enes Salli
Last but not least, Enes Sali. The 17-year-old joined Dallas this offseason from Romania and chose the #99 jersey, a rare number in FCD history. Sali explains: "I had #77 before and I really liked the double numbers. So I thought 99 looked cool and went with it."
