Uruguay (Home 2013)

In case you have not realized, Puma equips two teams (of considerable renoun) at this year’s Confederations Cup and of course the typically out-of-the-box thinking smaller brother of Adidas created two rather remarkable shirts for these two teams. I will leave the most “outrageous” shirt for last, but we will have a look at Uruguay’s home jersey. I already mentioned previously, that Urugay’s fortunes were slipping over the past year and the country is in serious danger of not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. This would truly be a pity considering the ties Urugay actually has with Brazil (do I need to mention the Maracanazo?). I guess it is for this reason that Puma tried to create a modern looking retro-shirt – if something like this was ever possible.

So, we still have the classic sky-blue jersey. Although Uruguay wears black shorts with the jersey, the accents on it are held in white, but all the names and numbers are in black. Therefore, we have white sleeve trims, white Puma logos and a white standing collar which is open on the front to make space for a very classic looking broad lace-up pattern which was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s – the glory years of Uruguayan soccer.

The back looks pretty much like the previous Uruguay jersey. I still lament the odd font style especially since it is in stark contrast to the retro-look on the front. Some things just don’t mix well.

Generally, I hail any attempt to remind people of the past and the lace-up collar is a really great idea. However, lace-ups were used with a shirt collar and not a round or a standing collar as on this shirt. Furthermore, I lament the fact that the laces are not functional (as they were e.g. on the 1996 France jersey). But the real let-down is the use of this very modern and awkward font. In a way, this jersey’s designers just cannot decide whether the shirt should look old-fashioned or modern. Never good.

My rating: 6/10 stars.

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