Who are the best players ever to have worn the Dortmund number 9 shirt?

Who are the best players ever to have worn the Dortmund number 9 shirt?

Football over the years had plenty of iconic jersey numbers and a lot of players have popularised over time. One of the most iconic numbers in football is the #9, usually associated with strikers with a high goal scoring ability. Today we’ll be looking at few players to don the famous #9 shirt for Borussia Dortmund.

#1 Lars Ricken

Even though Ricken predominantly donned the #18 shirt for Die Schwarzgelben, the attacking midfielder spent his entire playing career at Dortmund and is currently working as the Youth Coordinator for the club. He is forever enshrined in Dortmund folklore as he scored the third goal and sealing the game for the Yellow-Blacks in the Champions League final of 1997 against Juventus which ended 3-1, minutes after coming on as a substitute, the only Champions League or European Cup title of the club.

#2 Stephane Chapuisat

The Swiss striker played for the club from 1991 to 1999 and is in the all-time top 5 goal scorers for BVB, scoring a whopping 123 goals in 284 matches. He was even voted Swiss Footballer of the Year three times during his time at BVB (four times in total) and was even voted Golden Player of Switzerland by the Swiss Football Association as the most outstanding player of the past 50 years in 2003.

#3 Jan Koller

The big man from the Czech Republic who was known for his strength and heading ability was part of the squad from 2001 to 2006 winning a Bundesliga title and reaching the UEFA Cup final, adding a different dimension to the team. He is also popular for having played as a goalkeeper (trained as a goalkeeper earlier in his career) after Jens Lehmann was sent off and all three substitutions were used up. Remarkably he did not concede a single goal even though Dortmund were down to 9 men.

#4 Robert Lewandowski

The Polish striker who is highly unpopular now after his controversial free transfer to rivals Bayern was one of the most clinical strikers to play for the club, a point which most fans would agree to. Before changing colours, Lewandowski netted a remarkable 103 goals in 187 games for the club, which places him 6th on the list of all-time top scorers. He has gone to win much more at Bayern, establishing himself as one of the best strikers in the world. He has even become captain of his national team, succeeding former Dortmund hero Jakub Blaszczykowski.

Currently, Emre Mor is occupying the #9 jersey but a loan seems likely for him and whoever takes the jersey next definitely has some big names to live up to and some to look away from (for example Ciro Immobile). Hope you liked this article and next week there will be a look into the history of another iconic number.