I don't know why I'm featuring this, other that pure intrigue. I
personally didn't know that Tibet had a national team, so imagine my
surprise when I stumbled across this whilst looking for Andorra shirts!
Available to buy from Subside Sports
Real Madrid have got off to a shaky start in La Liga as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Villareal. Real named Antonio Cassano, Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy
in their starting line-up, but were still unable to find the net. They
did, however, get chance to show off their shiny new home kit, which
(you won't be surprised to find out) is white. You can buy the shirt
from UKSoccershop.
We have already had a look at the new Barcelona kit, so it only seems fair to have a look at Sevilla's latest effort before the two sides meet in the European Super Cup tonight. The Uefa Cup holders will be wearing a Costa Rica-inspired
artistic shirt this season courtesy of Joma. It's always good to see
faux brush strokes on a football kit. You can buy it from Sevilla's website.
Chelsea's
dominance of English football might be starting to get frustrating, but
give me a Russian billionaire with a passion for football over an
energy drink manufacturer any day. The European branch of Red Bull's
pan-Atlantic 'soccer' empire will be seeking Champions League football
tonight. Red Bull Salzburg have a 1-0 lead going into the away leg of their tie with Valencia. You can buy the kit from their official shop.
European champions Barcelona have already won their first trophy of the new season after beating neighbours Espanyol
4-0 on aggregate in the Spanish Super Cup. Barca's took the opportunity
to show off their new wide-striped home kit. The Catalan club has again
resisted the temptation to 'taint' their shirt with a lucrative
sponsorship deal. The inside collar of the shirt bears the slogan 'Mes que un Club' (More Than A Club). You can buy it from Kitbag.
Internacional's
kit is perfect for the globetrotting glory-hunter. They are the newly
crowned champions of South America after defeating fellow Brazilians Sao Paulo 4-3 on aggregate in the final of the Cope Libertadores.
The kit is produced by Argentinian clothing company Topper. The bold
red shirt - with unusual white arm trim and sponsors logo - is
available from Fox Soccer Shop.
With all the attention on Steve McClaren in his first match as England boss, don't forget tonight's big title match between reigning world championsUruguay and challengers Egypt. You may remember this kit from Uruguay's match against England in March this year at Anfield. The shirt is supplied by Uhlsport, which for some reason has a quote from Bob Marley on its homepage. You can buy it from UK Soccershop at £39.99.
Bulgaria play Wales tonight in a friendly at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea. Their kit is from the same range as the sweat-drenched Puma shirts
we became familiar with at the World Cup. The shirt has the obligatory
national symbol hidden in the design. Other than that, it looks exactly
like all the many other white home kits Puma has produced. The Bulgaria
kit may be of interest to Spurs fans who want to make new striker Dimitar Berbatov feel at home. You can buy it by clicking here.
It can never do a national team's morale much good to be beaten by a club side. New Zealand did just that yesterday, though, as they lost 5-0 to Blackburn Rovers. The All Whites now face the daunting task of bouncing back against Uefa Cup holders Sevilla on Wednesday.
This is the New Zealand away kit featuring the familiar Silver Fern. The home kit is a little bland in comparison to this blue kit. You can buy them both from Champions of the World.
Pre-season or not, some fixtures look tasty on paper regardless. One such match is taking place today: Inter Milan v Ajax. We have already looked at Inter Milan's new kit
so here is Ajax's. It is fairly predictable since Ajax have hardly
changed their kit in about a millennium. In fact, you could probably
wear last season's kit and nobody would notice the difference. Click here to buy the new kit from UK Soccershop.
Former Nissan works side Yokohama F Marinos are taking on Celtic
in a pre-season friendly in Japan this morning. Gordon Strachan has now
earned enough Air Miles to travel to European games for free. This grey
away shirt from 2005 is the newest Marinos jersey that is easily
available to buy. It will set you back a whopping £65 from Subside Sports.
The Major League Soccer website
has an auction section selling signed shirts and other memorabilia to
raise money for charity. In fairness, it doesn't seem to be the
bustling internet marketplace that eBay is, but if you want a signed
shirt by your favourite 'soccer star' it is a good place to start
looking. There are currently 19 shirts up for auction. The bidding is
up to $260 on Cobi Jones's LA Galaxy shirt.
Remember that famous Subbuteo team 'Blackburn Rovers / Grasshoppers'? Well, they could still get away with it. Swiss side Grasshoppers
- who face Liverpool in a pre-season friendly today - have retained
their blue and white halves for the 06/07 season. You can buy it from
the Grasshoppers online shop by clicking here.
A couple of weeks ago we told you Toffs was launching a Cruyff Classics range to raise money for Johan Cruyff's charity foundation. All of the shirts in the collection are now available, including this monstrosity of a Washington Diplomats
shirt. Some of the Barcelona and Holland shirts on offer have stood the
test of time a little better. All the shirts are £37.99. Click here to see the range.
Recently crowned Italian champions Inter Milan
were beaten 2-1 in a friendly against pre-season form team Tottenham
Hotspur at White Hart Lane earlier today. Inter did get chance to show
off their new home kit though. The current trend seems to be for
thicker stripes and Inter are no exception. The new shirt also features
a white collar rather than the black one on recent shirts. You can buy
the shirt from Fox Soccer Shop for around £38.
The pre-season fixtures always throw up some unlikely games that make you wonder how they ever got arranged. Today Everton take on Mexican champions Club America in Dallas. This is Club America's brand spanking new away kit.
It is what you expect from a Latin American football shirt and even includes a big sponsors logo for BIMBO, everybody's favourite Spanish-speaking bakery! You can buy the shirt from the Club America website, but it is probably worth holding fire unless you have a decent grasp of Spanish and your own parcel firm.
Italian Serie AB A side Lazio
are taking in the sights of East Anglia this evening as they play
Ipswich Town at Portman Road. This is the new Lazio home kit, which is
taking a bit of stick on Lazio forums for not being blue enough. It is just sky blue, but it is about as close to white as you can get.
Fans are also concerned that the players will look as sweaty as the
World Cup players who wore Puma shirts. The shirt does not seem to be
available to buy online anywhere yet.
If you are the sort of person who can never think of a better holiday
souvenir than the replica shirt of a club which you may or may not be
staying within a 500 mile radius of, then here is one to keep your eyes
peeled for.
Most people will go for the Barcelona or Real Madrid shirts, but Atletico have ditched their traditional stripes and replaced them with Blackburn-esque halves for their new shirt.
Kit Parade: Atletico Madrid continued
Unfortunately you will soon find you are a walking advert for KIA
cars, but at least the sponsors logo matches the club colours. And if
we are to believe the latest reports, you can safely have 'F. TORRES' printed on the back. The shirt costs £39.99 from UK Soccershop.
Also check out Atletico Madrid's website: the coolest and best-designed football club site I have come across.
Workers at Puma are rushing round scraping together spare stars to release the new four-star Italy home shirt as soon as possible, but if you want an Italy shirt in time for your summer holidays this 1982 World Cup shirt from Toffs might fit the bill. It evokes memories of a simpler time when match-fixers were given proper sentences (just ask Paolo Rossi!). The shirt costs £32.99 and you can buy it by clicking here.
Spanish side Real Sociedad are in t'Yorkshire to play Huddersfield Town this evening for Andy Booth's testimonial match (a slightly lower key affair than Dennis Bergkamp's you would suspect). Bratwurst is marking the occasion by giving Sociedad the Kit Parade treatment.
The kit quite similar to Huddersfield's
(which probably means Sociedad will be in their black away kit tonight)
except that there are more stripes in a darker blue. Click here to buy it from the Real Sociedad online shop.
Dennis Bergkamp's
kind gesture of providing everyone who attended his testimonial with a
commemorative t-shirt seems to have created a lucrative black market.
The Dutchman ensured a t-shirt was placed on every seat in Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium before his testimonial against Ajax on Saturday, most of which are now being flogged on eBay by sentimental Gooners! Click here to see one of the many on sale.
This in Benfica's new kit for next season. It reminds me of the British Lions rugby shirt
in its design. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being
the next British Lions shirt knowing how these kit suppliers love to
recycle their designs. The kit is available for €66 from the Benfica online shop. And why not get this delightful tracksuit to accompany it?!
We all know that Hertha Berlin's stadium
is the envy of the world, but what about their kit? Hertha take on FC
Moscow in the Intertoto Cup tomorrow. This crisp-looking white shirt is
their new home kit for the 2006-07 season. Sponsor Deutsche Bahn ruins the shirt a bit with its red logo. Click here to buy it from the Hertha Berlin online shop.
The online Fiorentina Store is selling '2006 Europa' t-shirts to celebrate the club's Champions League venture. The one problem with that is that they are banned from competing
in this season's Champions League. According to the website,
availability of the t-shirts is high (I'll bet!). If you feel owning
one of these t-shirts would make some sort of ironic post-modernist
statement, they will set you back €18. Click here to buy one.
Well, now the World Cup is well and truly over, you can now get shirts in the sale. One I've got my eye on is the Paraguay home shirt.
Seeing as we safely beat them (ahem), it is more than acceptable to
strut around the pub in the Paraguay colours, and it's certainly better
than those idiots with Beckham/Madrid shirts.
Zizou, now more popular than ever on the web after his stunning headbutt, has been immortalised in this ace T Shirt from 365.
Sporting the ace 'Zid Vicious' comment in punk stencilling, you can pop
the Tee on, then barge into your detractors Boris Johnson style.
Wales have gone retro with their new kit for the Euro 2008 qualifiers. It looks quite similar to the new Manchester United kit with its red shirt, thick white v-neck collar and baggy shorts, so Ryan Giggs
should be comfortable in it on the rare occasions he wears the shirt.
Wales are officially still a team of Kappa slappers as it is the
Italian sports company who have designed this 1950s style clobber. You
can buy the shirt for £29.99 directly from the Welsh FA.
So,
what will Juventus be wearing next season in lowly Serie B? Obviously,
the Old Lady is famed for it's Notts County kit, but once upon a time
they sported this very manly pink. Let's hope the big fat cheats go
back to that then eh? You can buy one from Toffs... if you like that sort of thing. Rimini away anyone?
The World Cup was just an exciting prospect when we told you about the Carlsberg Old Lions advert back in April. The tournament has now been and gone (and the advert shown to death), but Toffs is offering a replica of the shirt worn by the England greats (plus Des Walker)in the commercial. Click here to buy it.
Retro football shirt specialist Toffs is selling these 1974 Holland away shirts with Johan Cruyff's number 14 on the back to raise money for the great man's charity. The Johan Cruyff Foundation supports children's sport and play worldwide.
Cruyff's Barcelona, Ajax, Washington Dips, La Aztecs and Cosmos shirts will also be released by Toffs to raise money and the 1974 Holland home kit is already available. The shirt costs £37.99 but it is for chariddy, mate! Click here to buy it.
IFK Goteborg are one of the biggest names in the UEFA Cup qualifying competition. Tonight they will face Irish side Derry City at home. If you want to get hold of their kit as a momento of the occasion you can buy it from the IFK official website.
It is a pretty straight forward blue and white striped effort,
although the sponsor is certainly getting value for their money! Click here to see who else is in action tonight.
Northern Irish champions Linfield are the first UK outfit to venture into European football this season. If you want to support them against Gorica of Slovenia tonight, you can purchase the blue home shirt from their official website for £38.
The shirt is gamely modelled here by striker Glenn Ferguson, who will miss tonight's match because he is on a family holiday. Ah, a simpler kind of football!!!
Kit Parade: Cool retro Adidas France and Italy tracksuits
It
is time to pick your team for tonight's World Cup final and don the
appropriate retro tracksuit top from Adidas. These are replica versions
of the tracksuits worn by France and Italy in the 1982 World Cup, which was won, of course, by Italy. Both are available at just under £40 from Urban Industry. [Via Retro To Go]
The Guardian
has apparently branched out into the murky world of t-shirt sales and
you can now design your own World Cup shirt on their website. I threw
together this Who Ate All The Bratwurst number in minutes.
You can choose your own text and/or image to feature on the shirt.
The price varies from about £11.50 to £40 depending on how extravagant
you're feeling. I like the idea of an army of readers wearing their Bratwurst t-shirts around the globe!
If you have found yourself moaning at the omission of Aaron Lennon from England's starting line-up during the World Cup, you can make your point with this witty t-shirt from TShirts365.
The t-shirt's slogan is 'Give Pace A Chance', adapted from the lyrics of Lennon's ex-Beatles namesake.
The owners of the Cafepress merchandise website must be praying more than any of us that England win the World Cup. No sooner had their array of 'Do The Crouch'
tat hit the cyber shelves than the big man declared it was time to get
serious. Unless the Crouch-bot is to put in a World Cup final
appearance, there could be a lot of 'Do The Crouch' thongs, clocks,
bags and dog clothes left over.
Don't settle for Ghana's boring current kit if you are cheering them on at the World Cup. Instead you could own this little piece of Rastafarian heaven. This retro shirt may not be easy on the eye, but you will certainly stand out in a crowd.
For was it not that wise old sage Boy George who said: "Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dream, red, gold and green"? (Now you will be humming Karma Chameleon all the way through tonight's football!) You can buy the shirt from UK Soccer Shop.
We
have looked at a variety of kits for the nations competing at Germany
2006, but what of our glorious officials? You may have noticed that the referees are wearing a variety of Adidas
shirts, the most unmissable of which is this fluorescent yellow one.
Who said you know the ref's had a good game if you don't even notice
him on the pitch?! Anyway you can buy it from Hey Ref (yes, it exists!). Perfect for the Mr Precious in your life!
Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffo(o)n looked blingtastic in his sandy-gold v-neck (what a double whammy – sandy-gold and a v-neck!!!), when Italy played Ghana on Monday. Even Jorge Campos wouldn't have worn this.
If you too want to look like a massive clown/freak, you can buy this shirt online from uksoccershop.
After today's performance, you Arsenal fans must be foaming at the face. Tomas Rosicky,
long admired by me for his performances on various PlayStation games,
scored two corking goals and ran the show in the Czech's 3-0 win
over the USA. You need to show your support for next year's player of
the season.
Argentina
get their World Cup campaign up and running today against Ivory Coast,
but they were one of the few big guns whose kit we had not looked at.
The reason for that was that there isn't a great deal to say about it.
The Argentina kit has not changed too much over recent years and that
remains the case. The now familiar pale blue and white stipes are of
course present. You can buy it from Kitbag.
The only Group A kit we have not yet had a look at is Poland.
We didn't want the Polish squad feeling left out before they played
their opening match, so here it is. It is another of the strange Puma
shirts - the novelty soon wears off. The national symbol of Poland is
the eagle, but Puma has instead opted to have a winged horseman hidden
in the design for some reason. You can order it from Kitbag.
For the ethical football
fan (there must be some out there), The Hemp Shop of Brighton brings you this hand-made eco supporters Tee.
It's made from environmentally sensitive hemp, dude, and offers
eco-friendly relief from the glut of mass-produced, ethically unsound
World Cup kit. It comes in a natural, un-bleached cream colour with the
St.Georges
Cross on its breast pocket. We like. To buy online, click here.
Continuing on an eBay tip, why not show your support to Wayne Rooney's foot by purchasing this excellent 'Ouch! My metatarsal!' t-shirt, as seen now on eBay. It's available in a wide range of colours and sizes and costs £9.99. [via Bayraider]
Make your own World Cup headlines with the velcro t-shirt from Philosophy Football
You can beat the cash-in clothing manufacturers to the commemorative World Cup memorabilia with this velcro
t-shirt. The t-shirt comes complete with letters and numbers so that
you can create your own World Cup message or scorecard. You can buy it
from Philosophy Football for £19.99.
England's
first opponents have gone for the tried and tested red and white
stripes for their home kit. Retro is definitely 'in' for this World Cup
and Paraguay have ditched the thicker stripes of
recent years for a more classic look. The shirt may resemble
Sunderland's kit, but Paraguay's north-east connection actually lies
with monkey-featured former Newcastle winger Diego Gavilan. You can buy it from Kitbag.
Retro
kits are a fine way to enjoy style that today's polyester kits
sometimes don't offer. They also give you the opportunity to relive
your country's footballing golden age. That is why UK Soccer Shop has produced this Australia retro kit to remind Aussies of a time when they were a truly dominant football nation. Oh, wait a minute… Rob Parker
If you are looking for a bit of an unusual shirt to wear this summer, I expect Saudi Arabia replica shirts will be fairly thin on the ground. Shock horror it's another Puma
kit. It features the now familiar camouflaged national symbol - in this
case the palm tree and two swords. Just remember not to pack it in your
suitcase if you are going on holiday to Group G rivals Spain or
Tunisia. You can buy it from UK Soccer Shop.
Poor Japan. The Cameroon lion has got its claws on their brand spanking new Adidas
kit. The white change kit now has scratch marks all down one side of
it. Adidas, meanwhile, are behind both Nike and Puma in the kit
supplying stakes. You can buy the Japan away shirt from UK Soccer Shop.
We have already established that Puma have a monopoly
on the African replica kit market. Most teams having their World Cup
kits supplied by Puma have ended up with their national symbol
camouflaged into the design. Angola have instead opted for a cross-section of a Jaffa Cake. You can buy it from UK Soccer Shop.
Ecuador have managed to out do group-mates Costa Rica in the obscure kit supplier stakes. The shirt is manufactured by Marathon (who?). This seems to be their official website. Full marks to Ecuador, and indeed Costa Rica, for not opting for Puma
like every other lower ranked team. The shirt itself is pretty
impressive. It has a cool asymmetrical thing going on and, again like
Costa Rica, features brush strokes on the kit. It's art, baby! You can
buy it from UK Soccer Shop.
Another of the mind-bending African shirts courtesy of Puma. The Tunisia
version features an eagle - an Eagle of Carthage to be precise -
camouflaged in the design. Beyond that its basically white with minimal
red trim. A good effort but the Ivory Coast elephant is still my favourite. You can buy the Tunisia shirt from Kitbag.
The reigning champions have got themselves a great kit in which to chase back-to-back World Cups. Brazil have toned down the yellow of their last kit for something a little easier on the eyes. Ronaldinho and co will be hoping to make it shades of 1970 - and they have definitely got the shade of the 1970 kit. The collar looks as though it was designed for a vicar though. Buy it from kitbag.
I'm getting a bit of a 1980s vibe from adidas's new France kit. I like
it though. If you like it as much as me, then you can order it online
from Kitbag. An extra tenner and you can have Cantona 7 or Zidane 10 or Henry 14 printed on the back.
Okay,
it ain't fair that everyone is pretty much supporting Arsenal tonight.
Well, apart from Barca, Spurs and Man U fans. To remedy this, it's only
fair that you know where to get your hands on a vintage Barca kit, in
case you want to gloat should the Gunners get tonked tonight. Toffs do a nice range in vintage Barcelona kits, as do the brilliant Kitbag. Just to show no bias, you can also get your hands on a nice vintage Liam Brady style Arsenal kit too. If you're a Real Madrid fan that is.…
Do you know who the official sponsor of Africa is? No, not Bono. It seems to be Puma. They are the kit supplier of every African team in the tournament (and plenty more that didn't qualify). Ghana, like the Ivory Coast, have been given a white shirt with their national symbol in the design (in this case it's the Black Star, a bit dull once you've seen the elephant). Available online from UK Soccershop.
If you're planning on catching Once In A Lifetime - the new film about the legendary New York Cosmos side of 1977 - then go to the cinema in the right frame of mind with this retro New York Cosmos shirt. You can buy it from Subside Sports.
Rob's post on that very cool Cameroon Italia '90 shirt has put me in a retro mood. Going further back than 1990, here's a replica Holland adidas tracksuit top from 1974, the era of weighty sideburns and a certain Mr Cruyff.
If anyone at adidas is listening, feel free to send me loads of old
adidas clobber – if not, I guess I'll have to buy it from their online shop.
If you're planning on filming yourself dancing around like Roger Milla for the Domino's Pizza Couch Celebrations competition, then that's your choice. Here at Bratwurst,
we're not ones for half measures - if a job's worth doing, it's worth
doing right. Go the whole hog with you Milla impression with this
Cameroon 1990 World Cup shirt from adidas.
Maybe
you're a Sunderland fan who would like a little more joy in your life?
Or maybe you're just a sarcastic bugger who lives on Teeside? Show Boro
fans how cruel life is with a replica shirt of the all-conquering Sevilla side that battered a piss-poor side live on telly. Failing that, you could always sport a weird plastic mask like Mark Schwarzer.
Does anybody know what the guys at Puma are smoking? You may remember we told you about the Senegal kit with the hidden baobab tree. Well, the Ivory Coast
might just have gone one better (and they have qualified for the World
Cup too). Unless my eyes are playing tricks again, there is an elephant
hidden in the design of this shirt. You can buy it from UK Soccershop.
The only kit at this World Cup made by Joma
is a belter. Nothing beats a couple of impressionistic brush strokes
across the chest to make you feel like a world beater. Very artistic
and available to buy from UK Soccer Shop.
The Ukraine World Cup kit is, well, eye-catching. The kit designers at Umbro should note that something different can be done with yellow and blue. Lotto (old school) have come up with this Villareal-esque spiky number. You can buy it here. Rob Parker
With Five's recent showing of Escape to Victory,
it suddenly got me all excited about hearing the brass band playing
during the World Cup, and the potential of Owen Hargreaves having his
arm broken by Michael Caine.
Umbro are so lazy. Does this kit seem familiar to you? This is not the first time Umbro has have fobbed England and Sweden
off with the same kit in different colours and it has got to stop! They
promised a unique St George's cross-design on the shirt to give us a
real sense of national identity and – shock horror – there it is in
blue to represent the Swedish cross. It's all academic really though,
because Sweden should definitely play in their gold centenary kit (shiny shiny). You can buy them both from kitbag. Rob Parker
The hosts with the most are retaining their efficient white top, black shorts look for this summer's World Cup. German flair
comes in the form of a yellow and red slither of colour down each
side. A major design fault is the number of stars above the badge
- far too many I would say! What do our German readers think of
the kit? If it isn't to your liking you could get the 1954 World Cup shirt or, if you like it, you can buy the current kit from kitbag.
The Croatia
checkerboard is back with a vengeance. Nothing to break it
up. No white sleeves on this shirt. It's red and white
squares all the way. The national anthem line-up is going to look
like one of those hypnotic optical illusions. If Goran Ivanisevic was always your favourite tennis player or you have some other affinity with Croatia, you can buy the shirt from kitbag.
Italy's new away kit will probably be the first v-neck
to appear in a World Cup finals. We don't mean a v-shaped collar,
but a proper v-neck complete with fake undershirt. To the
untrained eye it looks like they have turned up in their home shirts
and been forced to wear Puma v-necks over the top to avoid a clash.
Only the Italians could get away with this fashion madness. You can buy
it from kitbag. Rob Parker
Portugal have gone all Gunners with this effort. Just like Arsenal, Portugal have ditched the red we had become accustomed to, in favour of a more maroon affair. The away kit is a darker shade still: it's black. You can buy them both from kitbag. Rob Parker
Ah, the Spain
home kit: that age old holiday souvenir. This year's effort is a
little bland to be honest - plain red with minimal yellow trim.
The Euro 96 Spain shirt
was much better than this one. You probably still won't be able
to resist it when it's the last day of your holiday and you can't find
anything better to spend your Euros on. Alternatively, you can
buy it from kitbag.
Teams wearing green never seem to do that well – as a Plymouth Argyle
fan, I should know. Mexico's new Nike kit looks smart enough, although
the white chevron on the chest is a rather unnecessary detail. But if
you want to support Mexico this summer, buy this shirt online from kitbag.com.
No player has worn as many dodgy kits as former Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos. What
makes it worse is that he designed most of them himself. This
offering is particularly nasty and reflects Campos's love of bold
colours, namely fluorescent pink, yellow and green. And yet in
some ways you hope it was available to buy as a replica shirt, and
possibly in a shell-suit form too.
If you're the kind of person who likes your football shirt with concealed trees then Senegal's
latest offering will be right up your street. It looks pretty
basic at first - white shirt, red trim - but look a little harder and
you will find a baobab tree (apparently) camouflaged in the
design. The baobab
is the national symbol of Senegal. When you look closely it
appears the tree could have been the accidental result of a tie-dying
error. As if that wasn't enough, the shirt has an aerodynamic
collar just to give you that edge. The shirt is available from kitbag.
Who doesn't love the blue of Italy? It's one of the
classic international football shirts, up there with the yellow of
Brazil and orange of Holland. This year's model, made by Puma, looks
pretty much as you'd expect - there's some fancy detailing around the
armpits, but, well… it looks like an Italy home shirt and therefore
it's guaranteed to be one of the better-looking kits seen in Germany.
The fact that none of the Italian squad looks like Peter Crouch
obviously helps. Buy it from kitbag.
It's a shame that there will be no Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to keep a beady one on in the forthcoming
World Cup. They always bring a colourful style of football to watch, I mean,
who could forget the run in the 1990 finals? Roger Milla's wiggle, the victory
over Argentina (the holders of the trophy in 1990) and of course, that little
cheeky goal against Columbia?
One thing we definitely won't be seeing is the banned kit.
The Cameroon side got into a bit of bother about their kit
not too long ago.
The side took to the pitch in the lead up to the 2004 African Cup of Nations in
a weird all-in-one kit. Then got spanked for it.
"It goes against the laws of the
game," Blatter said at the time, continuing with "The rules are very
clear, there is one shirt, one shorts and one socks. They cannot do it. You
cannot play a game against the laws of the game."
"We are the
guardians of the laws of the game - the laws are universal." When asked
whether a decision on the kit was a matter for Caf or for Fifa Blatter replied:
"We have to intervene."
The resultant spat saw kit makers', Puma,
taking Fifa to court claiming they had done nothing wrong. Puma filed a
suit at a German court asking for over two million euros ($2.41 million) in
damages. It wasn't the first time that Puma had crossed swords with Fifa, when
Mali got into all kinds of bother by sending the side out in sleeveless shirts.
The row with the Cameroon kit was resolved in an out-of-court settlement, which
neither party disclosed the financial agreement.
Whether the 'scandal' had any impact on the team's performances leading up to
the World Cup is not known, but it is a shame that we're all going to miss the
electrifying skills of Samuel
Eto'o. Still, it was his penalty miss that sent the Ivory Coast through...
It is no secret to those that know me. I always wear my England kit from Mexico '86 complete with Gary Lineker bandage around my left hand whenever England play.
Slightly obsessive? Of course. I did well to find an old shirt in
mint condition, which cost me a packet. Now, the brilliant Toffs
website have started selling official Umbro England shirts from
yesteryear.
South Korea's nickname is the 'Red Devils' (hmm, isn't that already
taken?) but I'm sure there's a hint of fuschia in its World Cup home
shirt. It's not properly red, is it? Someone has also sewn a couple of
public-school ties on to the front, for no apparent reason. Mysterious.
I've
gone all scorchio over this t-shirt showing Brazilian legends in their
Panini sticker form. Jairzino, Socrates, Rivelino, Pele… they're all on
there. This summer's coolest t-shirt, no question.
You can buy it from tshirts365
for £16.99. They also do an England one and, best of all, a Mullet
Legends version, which features the likes of Chris Waddle, Rudi Voller
and Gerry Francis. We'll hopefully run a competition soon to win one of
these beauties, so keep your eyes peeled.
Windmills, drug cafes, bicycles, dams, tulips, window-shopping for
prostitutes, Van Gogh… a handy bullet-point guide to stereotyping the
Dutch. But when I think of Holland, I think instead of the colour
orange…
Nike is clearly on a big retro tip with its 2006 World Cup kits. The
Dutch home strip, as sported here by Ruud van Nistelrooy, looks like it
could have come straight from the 1950s. Must be something to do with
the big crest – Nike's kit for the USA also has a Texas-sized badge.
Interesting, too, to see Holland wearing blue socks (mirroring its
national flag, I guess). Overall, I think it looks great. Ruud needs to
cheer up a bit, though. Maybe he's just caught sight of Louis Saha.
This
season I will be mostly wearing… Nike's new USA home kit, a half-decent
retro number with go-faster stripes and a massive crest that shouts
'Look at us, we're a frickin' superpower with frickin' laserbeams
already'. A major improvement on previous American kits, especially
that one with the blue flecks they wore when hosting the World Cup in
1994 – flecks are never a good idea.
Workers at Puma are rushing round scraping together spare stars to release the new four-star Italy home shirt as soon as possible, but if you want an Italy shirt in time for your summer holidays this 1982 World Cup shirt from Toffs might fit the bill. It evokes memories of a simpler time when match-fixers were given proper sentences (just ask Paolo Rossi!). The shirt costs £32.99 and you can buy it by clicking here.
We
have looked at a variety of kits for the nations competing at Germany
2006, but what of our glorious officials? You may have noticed that the referees are wearing a variety of Adidas
shirts, the most unmissable of which is this fluorescent yellow one.
Who said you know the ref's had a good game if you don't even notice
him on the pitch?! Anyway you can buy it from Hey Ref (yes, it exists!). Perfect for the Mr Precious in your life!
The hosts with the most are retaining their efficient white top, black shorts look for this summer's World Cup. German flair
comes in the form of a yellow and red slither of colour down each
side. A major design fault is the number of stars above the badge
- far too many I would say! What do our German readers think of
the kit? If it isn't to your liking you could get the 1954 World Cup shirt or, if you like it, you can buy the current kit from kitbag.
The Croatia
checkerboard is back with a vengeance. Nothing to break it
up. No white sleeves on this shirt. It's red and white
squares all the way. The national anthem line-up is going to look
like one of those hypnotic optical illusions. If Goran Ivanisevic was always your favourite tennis player or you have some other affinity with Croatia, you can buy the shirt from kitbag.
