Juan Cuadrado may have lost his Juventus shirt number to Cristiano Ronaldo, but his new number could be the most cryptic the world of football has ever seen.
Cuadrado had held the number seven shirt in Turin, but with the arrival of five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, that is no longer the case.
Más bienaventurado es dar que recibir; bendiciones ?? Panita @cristiano en esta nueva aventura ????#FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve?️? pic.twitter.com/MYAMcjVyxi
— Juan Cuadrado (@Cuadrado) July 11, 2018
The tweet was translated by Twitter as reading: “More blessed is to give than to receive; Panita Blessings (folded hands emoji) @cristiano in this new adventure”.
So the winger needs a new number, and after more than 150,000 votes were cast on Twitter, number 49 was the winner.
But why?
Y ahora… ¿Qué número para próxima temporada? ?
E ora … quale numero???♂️ @juventusfc @PauDybala_JR ??? #ForzaJuve
— Juan Cuadrado (@Cuadrado) July 13, 2018
Well “Cuadrado” translates into Spanish as “square” and with the Colombia footballer’s previous number being seven, he simply squared it to make 49. Clever stuff.
Meanwhile, after including teammate Paulo Dybala’s number 10 in the poll and tagging him in the post, Dybala responded suggesting 21 might be better.
Panita ? el 21 no esta mal ? https://t.co/BehZHCSvBC
— Paulo Dybala (@PauDybala_JR) July 14, 2018
Who knew the world of football shirt numbers could be so absorbing?