New International Kits

The most recent international break in soccer has brought with it many new national team kits. The USMNT debuted "the people's jersey", France switched from adidas to Nike, and many others got some rethinkings on their standard kit. Let's take a look.


The most-hyped here in the States was the unveiling of the national team's new third kit. The red scheme is something that fans have been asking for since this new design was unveiled in the run-up to last year's World Cup, leading to the name of "the people's jersey". Nike took it a step further by holding a Twitter survey as to what the new motto on the jersey should be. The winner ended up being "Indivisible", which is one that I never saw brought up on Twitter. There were concerns by many supporters that Nike was trying to take away the classic "Don't Tread On Me" motto, but Nike responded by putting the initials "DTOM" on the backside of the shield, over the players' heart. Overall it's a very nice jersey, one of those third kits that I don't mind seeing take the pitch.

Nike once again showed their prowess with the unveiling of France's new range. Making the jump from adidas to Nike allowed for a complete redesign, and what a design it is. The home kit is simple and elegant, and just seems very French. I'm a sucker for collared jerseys, but this kit manages to put a slight twist on the average football collar with a slim one. That combined with the elongated placket exudes a designer elegance that isn't seen often in sports. The sleeves, decidedly longer than most others by covering the entire upper arm, can be turned up to reveil a line of red. White shorts and red socks complete les tricolores.

But perhaps my favorite jersey out of all of these is the away kit for the French. Drawing upon the French tradition of the "mariniere", Nike outdoes itself on this one. It's such a simple design, that there's not a whole lot that you can say about it. But that's what makes this so beautiful. The simplicity, the beauty, the elegance. The jersey looks like it's going to be paired with white shorts and socks. Again the simplicity of it is what gets me. I think the only thing that it needs to complete it is some grass stains on the shorts. It's a piece of fashion that people will play soccer in. It's something that I would pay money for.

Nike also gave Brazil new uniforms, as always the home is the traditional yellow that the Brazilians are so famous for. The only thing of note on the new unis is the green chest stripe on the home jersey, yellow on the away. I'm not sure what it really is, aside from filler. It's not bad, but it's not going to be a staple on future designs, I'm sure. The really interesting design is the new third kit for the Seleção, a bold all-black design. Literally, all black. From the number to the swoosh to the crest to even that chest stripe (why is it still there?), everything about this jersey is dark. Even the phrase along the back "Carininho", which means little canary (a reference to the iconic yellow jerseys) is ironically black. This, in contrast to the Americans' third kit, is one that I do not want to see on the pitch. Wear it once to say that you did, then let Nike sell it. Then get back to wearing your yellow (and the occasional blue). Not saying it's not a nice jersey, because it is. But it's a nice jersey for fans to wear on the streets. Not players on the pitch.


Adidas did some redesigns for Argentina, Spain, and Mexico, but the only major changes for any of them came with the away shirt. Argentina is still La Albiceleste, with the iconic vertical stripes. Again, I'm always a fan of the collar, and it's hard to go wrong with this design. The only downside to this jersey, in my opinion, is the stripes on the shoulder. I'm pretty tired of Adidas pushing the triple stripe thing at every opportunity. I'm not huge on the away jersey, but I'll admit that it looks pretty good as a whole kit. That said, I still just want to see them in the white and sky blue.

Spain's new home shirt isn't too different from their previous, with the exception of the new World Cup badge and a new star above the Spanish crest. The away jersey is an all-white design, nothing special about it in particular. But again with the stripes. We get it, Adidas. Your logo has three stripes, which can be integrated into sports uniforms. You can stop now.

Again, Adidas didn't mess too much with the home jersey for Mexico, just the plain green with red and white accents (and of course those blasted stripes). But in the away jersey, they took away the green and we're left with just red, black, and gold. It looks a little like this. Wait, I meant this. This jersey, while decent looking, is too close to Germany's. It's a lack of forward thinking by the designers. I'm not too enamored by Mexico's black kit in the first place, so this could have been a chance to change away from it, instead of essentially ripping off an old design.

There were some other kit changes, including this nice new design for Peru, but these were the big ones. We'll see if there's more changes coming ahead of Euro 2012.