Egypt (Away 2015-18)

Well, let’s continue with the posts and get to one of the rarer shirts. In fact, we have seen the away jersey in action against Portugal this March, but it never was available for sale. And this generally makes it hard for me to post. Well, I found a few nice pictures and also could supplement pictures of the previous away jerseys making for a three jersey post.

Many consider Egypt to be a dark horse and two weeks ago it seemed well possible that Russia might be in for a truly rough ride in their group. Now with star player M. Salah leaving teh Champions League final injured, things are not as clear anymore. Just watch the odds movement on betfair.com and it becomes obvious that many think that Egypt’s chances hinge on the fitness of their talisman. On the other hand, a super star can make a huge difference, but soccer is by and large a weakest link sport. And given that Egypt qualified almost comfortably from a group containing Ghana, there surely must be some quality. And it has been slowly building over the past few years.

Now, here we are looking at three away jerseys, which are all white with black accents and in many ways resemble their home counter parts. Let’s start with in 2015:

Well, bad logo aside, I like this one which is basically the home jersey in white. The black shoulder yoke nicely frames the jersey and having the cuffs and the collar in black and red makes for a really nice accent. Otherwise this jersey is rather plain but not to its detriment. I really would have loved to see this one at a major tournament.

My rating: 8/10 stars.

Well, as with the home jersey for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the away jersey also looks not that well as its predecessor.  However, this one is a little bit more consistent as it only uses white and black. Otherwise it is once more the home jersey where red is swapped out for white. Even the shadow pattern is the same nonsensical one. I guess, I can keep this post also short and you can read much more on what I like and do not like about this one in my post about the home jersey. But using black-and white makes it a tad better one.

My rating: 5/10 stars.

And this brings us to the elusive Egypt away jersey for the World Cup, which we will definitely see in their match-up against Russia:

Hmm, this looks in many ways like a Germany jersey. And given the Mannschaft’s recent success, this is actually not a disparaging thing to say. In fact, I would go as far as to proclaim that Egypt are Africa’s Germany. The jersey itself is super simple with just black stripes on the shoulders and a black trim on the crew neck collar. There really is not much more to it. The round crest is in shape also quite similar to Germany’s eagle crest, but in content inferior. The front number is centered and on the back we use the same font as all other Adidas teams. And yes, all applications are in black. That is it.

I think this is a record for me: least amount of words per jersey in a post. But then it was truly easy to cover these three jerseys as there wasn’t much to say. Well, this away jersey is not spectacular but also not bad. Simplicity for the win here. But as it also lacks that special something is right there with the home jersey.

My rating: 6/10 stars.

How would you rate these shirts?

Egypt (Home 2018)

So, after using up so many lines on the Egypt jersey and the Pharaohs in general in the previous post, I think we can go straight into their 2018 World Cup jersey:

Well, this is a very simplified and cleaner look than (at least) on the two previous versions: gone is the black shoulder yoke and the three stripes (back to white) are put on the sides which fits in nicely with the white logos and numbers on the front. The jersey features a round collar and sleeve cuffs in black. It looks somewhere between classic simplicity and a tad retro but does not (at least to my knowledge) reference any particular jersey from the past. But then, there is something on the red front: a checker board shadow pattern all over. Nothing that fancy on the back: just names and numbers.

Now, patterns are often nice especially if they either accentuate the jersey without distracting or (even better) create a reference to the country/culture/city. This one does neither. Furthermore, I again bemoan the somewhat lackluster logo of the Egyptian FA. Couldn’t they use something more exciting than a simple round logo with (at a first glance) not much in it and to top it off uses the most clipart version of a soccer ball (Yes, we are trying to revive that classic look, but it has bot been used since at least 1978!). Again, use the coat of arms, something a lot more Egyptian or a total redo! Even just the flag or some creative interpretation of it would be better! I really bemoan the fact that the Egyptian jersey does neither reference the team’s nickname (the Pharaohs), nor history, nor architecture nor culture. With a country of such rich history it seems a total missed opportunity. The 2010 jersey at least had a Tut-Ankh-Amun on it. What a waste! But perhaps most disappointing given Adidas’s theme of retro jerseys circa 1990 is that they did not re-interpret the last Egypt World Cup jersey (note the crest on this one!). What a miss! As I said, the jersey has some classic simplicity to it, but I would rather they dropped the checker board pattern. What is meant as an accent makes it to me an also-ran if not boring. Good intentions, but many missed opportunities!

My rating: 6/10 stars.

How do you rate this shirt?

Egypt (Home 2015-17)

Well, let’s go to another team in a group that we already touched: Egypt who is in the host’s Group A. But while it is another red jersey, this one hits two firsts: the first African team we are looking at for this upcoming World Cup and the first time I am writing about Egypt since starting my blog.

Egypt is an African power house (Egypt’s clubs dominate the African Champions League and the national team is a record seven-time winner of the African Cup of Nations) this might come as a surprise, but since failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in a playoff and despite winning the African Cup of Nations in 2010 for the third time in a row, Egypt fell off the cliff. We may write a lot about it, but I feel it is down to the political upheaval happening after the 2010 World Cup and only recently Egypt seemingly has recovered. After missing three African Cups, they made it to the final in the 2017 version and finally secured a long due spot at the World Cup (first time since 1990, first time outside Italy and third overall).

Now, given that this is the first post on Egypt, I was really tempted to dig in deep into the Pharaohs’ jersey history. But go out and find some of the jerseys worn in this decade. Especially since Adidas took over in 2012, there is almost a three year hole on the WWW (or I am looking at the wrong places – help me out). But at least I can look at two jerseys here: the one worn from 2015-16 (given the design potentially 2014) and the one worn in the run to a runner-up finish at the 2017 African Cup of Nations and a qualification spot). And it is clear that all of these feature Egypt’s star player: former Roma and current Liverpool star Mohammed Salah.

Well, for the first Egypt shirt that I am ever writing about this one is looking good, even if I do not have very nice pictures of it. It is the red jersey that is expected with white and black accents referring to the Egyptian flag. Instead of a plain red shirt, there is a black shoulder yoke containing the three stripes which are stopped by another band of black and white which is also mirrored on the sleeve cuffs and the V-neck collar. Also, the way the logos and the number are nicely arranged on the front makes for a fine jersey. I am not too crazy about the logo of the Egyptian FA – I think the Eagle of Saladin from the coat of arms would look a lot better. Maybe my only gripe with the jersey is the arc on the back which does not extend to the entire length of the yoke making things look a bit awkward. On the back we an also find a wordmark which is hard to make out here, but I assume it is some writing in Arabic – fitting, I would say.

What am I missing? Not much! Maybe the shirt is too plain, maybe there is too little reference to the team’s nickname or Egyptian history. On an African jersey, I would love to see something like that. On the other hand, this is very strong effort and would not need additional features. But maybe a new crest would really be a nice touch.

My rating: 8/10 stars.

On we go to a more successful jersey that updates this design:

At first it looks a lot like the 15/16 version, however overall looking not that well. First of all the black shoulder yoke extends all the way down the sleeves and instead of white three stripes, we have them in red. That in itself, while looking a clunkier is a classic soccer jersey look and colorwise not a foul. However, I am not at all a fan of the other two new features: first of all, the V-neck is only accentuated in white on the front and does not go all around which just looks odd: a detached flat V on the front and nothing else. And then there is the shadow striping on the front which is a little irregular and given that it also featured on the 2016 Ukraine jersey, it seemingly has no connection to Egyptian culture (or do they want to mimic a papyrus-roll here?). On the plain jersey it does look not too well and it does not pop out on the in-game look. At least the arrangement of names and numbers did not change and the font is still very pleasing.

Overall, this jersey looks cheap (especially on that horrible mannequin) and hastily put together. Also the circular logo that I do not like all that much does not improve this feeling. And then, even recent successes don’t make this look much better. It is not horrible, but since re-starting my blog earlier this year, this is probably my least favorite jersey I have looked at so far.

My rating: 4/10 stars.

How do you rate these jerseys?