Berlin, Jun 20: In the slipstream of Puskas, Pele, Maradona, Zico, and Platini come Zidane and Ronaldinho, the heirs to all those who've worn the magical number 10 shirt with varying degrees of success at the World Cup.

Zidane and Ronaldinho are already World Cup winners.

Pele and Maradona too.

Sadly Puskas, Zico and Platini never saw their dreams realised.

The man with the 10 on his back was once just an ordinary insideleft.

Now he's the player who waves a magic wand and weaves soccer spells and Ronaldinho, below par at this World Cup, recognises the pressure.

"I've always dreamt of following in the footsteps of the legends, the great players," said the Brazilian.

"Wearing the number 10 is very special since most of my idols also had that number." Over 50 years ago, Ferenc Puskas, the first superstar number 10, was the heart and soul of Hungary, winning an Olympic gold medal before going on to rack up an international career of 85 caps and 84 goals.

At the 1954 World Cup, Puskas led favourites Hungary to the finals.

Despite defeating West Germany 8-3 in a group match, Puskas's Hungary lost 3-2 in the final to the same German team after taking a two goal lead.

His legacy passed to Pele who carried the number 10 in three World Cup winning teams in 1958, 1962 and 1970.Pele is aware of the significance of the jersey and his reputation.

"People said to me it's just like Da Vinci or Michelangelo, you are going to leave something for the next generations," said Pele after opening a World Cup exhibition here.

The number 10 shirt he wore when he scored two goals as a 17-year-old in the 1958 final against Sweden was sold at auction for 105,600 dollars.

Four years ago, the number 10 shirt he wore in the 1970 final fetched 283,000 dollars.

Number 10s have even inspired a new book, The Perfect Ten.

"They are an exotic species, rendered more precious through the constant suggestion that they may be endangered by the games steady evolution," writes author Richard Williams.

He quotes Socrates, part of Brazil's 1982 and 1986 World Cup teams, who believes they are a declining breed.

"A football player of the 1970s ran an average distance in each game of four kilometres.

Today this has almost tripled.

Which means that the spaces between the players are relatively smaller," says Socrates.

"This causes a lot more physical contact, and makes it a lot more difficult for the player to create moves.

Today, if you cant play with one touch you have little chance of playing at the top level.

Football has become uglier." In that sense, perhaps it's not surprising that Argentina once wanted to retire the number 10 shirt in honour of 1986 World Cup-winning captain Diego Maradona.

The shirt was the property of an out-and-out forward when Argentina won the 1978 World Cup with Mario Kempes before he passed it to Maradona in 1982."Argentina has always produced very good players, and mine is just another name on the list.

Diego was the greatest," said Kempes modestly.

French libero Platini inspired his nation to the 1984 European championship but whether that made up for the heartbreak of losing in the 1982 World Cup semi-finals is questionable where they lost a controversial tie to West Germany.

"That night I went through a scaled down version of a lifetime's worth of emotions," said Platini dramatically.

Number 10s like to be lyrical even when they are not playing.

Italy's Roberto Baggio, whose skyward penalty kick handed Brazil the 1994 World Cup, has never doubted his ability.

"With soccer I have the ability to do things differently," said Baggio.

"That is why I admire Leonardo da Vinci.

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