TUCSON, Ariz. – One of the first orders of business for both Gershon Koffie and Sambinha upon meeting up with their new club in Tucson, Arizona was selecting their jersey numbers.
Koffie will wear No. 7 for the New England Revolution, while Sambinha will wear No. 40.
The single-digit number is a bit of a departure for Koffie, who wore No. 28 during his five-year stint with the Vancouver Whitecaps. London Woodberry currently wears No. 28 for the Revolution.
Koffie becomes the 18th player to wear the No. 7 jersey in Revolution history, joining the likes of Darren Sawatzky (New England’s original No. 7 in 1996), Ivan McKinley, Andy Williams, Daniel Hernandez, Jose Cancela and Patrick Mullins. The number was most recently occupied by Sean Okoli.
The No. 40 jersey, meanwhile, hasn’t been quite as popular. Some cursory research shows that no one has ever stepped onto the field in a regular-season match wearing the No. 40 for the Revolution, although third-string goalkeeper Tim Murray did hold the number as recently as 2012.
Why the unique jersey choice for Sambinha? He wore No. 40 with Sporting Clube de Portugal, the club that sent him on loan to the Revolution for the 2016 season.
