Brazil (Home & Away 2016-17)

Well, Nike’s biggest team is undoubtedly Brazil. France may have (had?) the biggest contract, but Brazil is what the world wants to see. And the Brazil kit is easily the most iconic kit of them all. So iconic that my first full series on the history of soccer shirts was the Brazil jersey. And from that we also saw that since 1996 Nike is supplying the Seleçao. And most of the time they honored the iconic look: yellow jersey with green color and sleeve trims, blue pants with white striping and white socks with green/yellow striping. The wouldn’t force them into a template, wouldn’t they?

 

They would!!! But at least they held back a teeny little bit. Unlike the France kit, the sleeves/shoulders are the same color as the rest of the jersey which immediately gives this shirt a more cohesive feel. However, it does not look very Brazilian as the green is almost not present. The band around the back of the neck could be counted as a green collar if we want to be benevolent, but the fact that it does not wrap around to the front does not give the green enough weight. It is also hard to see on these pictures but there is a green band running down the sides from the sleeves. While if seen from the side gives the jersey a bit more character, it simply does not make this jersey more Brazilian to me. Even the names and numbers (standard, but good font) don’t do it for me as the jersey still looks naked with all that yellow that is not sufficiently balanced by green. It all reminds me too much of the 2011 jersey, where even a thick green bar could not save the jersey. Before getting to my verdict, I also want to point out the probably most ridiculous feature of this jersey: the yellow word mark on the back side of the collar just above the green line. In that template, all of these are more or less subdued and barely legible, but this one seems to be the least legible of them all. It really screams to be in green!

Well, it looks bare and naked. Too little green features to balance out all that yellow. The fact that it is a template used for the most marquee team without any additional features really irks me here. But then, Nike already has done this in 2011 and 2012. And as most people see Brazil playing at the World Cup, they don’t see the “bad” versions of the iconic jersey. Fortunately, at least to my knowledge, Brazil never wore these with yellow pants as this would have been sacrilegious. If this was some African team or even Australia, these would have just been fine. But for Brazil it just doesn’t cut it for me. Yes, it is better than the France kit, but it is even more bland and boring as well. I guess the big plus for this jersey is that they won the Olympics in this one albeit with a slightly different crest (don’t get me started!!!). Not terrible, but bland and therefore

My rating: 5/10 stars.

And then, the blue away jersey. And here as well, we get what we expect: a blue jersey. However, the question was never about the blue but rather the accent color: is it the more traditional white or the more modern yellow?

Well, it is both but applied in almost the worst way imaginable: white goes for the accents on the blue torso, i.e. swoosh, stars above the crest and all names and numbers. And then yellow, or a rather garish greenish yellow is used on the collar and sleeves, where it mixes with the blue of the torso. And that is where the problem lies as it all blends into a very undefinable blue tone that just does not do justice to the Brazilians. Again, this went the wrong way and does not make for a good look. In many ways, this is even worse than the France home jersey as it makes the look less aggressive and not vibrant at all. And given the history of blue Brazil jerseys, this one is near if not at the bottom!

My rating: 2/10 stars.

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FC Barcelona (Away 2013/14)

Let’s have a look at Barca’s best-selling alternate jersey of all time: the current 2013/14 version. When I get the time to go over the history of club shirts, the Barcelona away jersey will definitely be one of the more intriguing ones with many colors and shades used. This season, we have an entirely new color scheme albeit one that was just waiting to happen …

Like the home jersey, the away jersey features four red vertical stripes but this time on a yellow background. Four red stripes on yellow? Doesn’t that sound familiar? Oh yes, this is the Catalan flag. With Barca being one of the prime exponents of fervent ‘Catalanismo’ I am actually surprised that no one had thought of this jersey earlier. If we overlook this feature for now, the away jersey has the basic design of the home jersey (including the awkward sleeves) but with a round collar. The swoosh is appropriately applied in dark blue but it is again the sponsor that falls out of line: this time it is printed in black, although this is not as striking as on the home jersey.

The back is more of the striped pattern, although in international competitions, the upper portion is replaced by a big yellow shield (see below). Names, numbers and UNICEF logo are again applied in dark blue (navy?) fitting to the overall color scheme. Note the red outline on the number in the shot below which is seemingly not featured on replica jerseys.

I already said that it was only a matter of time until Barca issued a Catalan flag kit. Although given that Valencia had similar kits dating back to the late 70s, the move can barely be called original. Also, the color scheme takes definitely some getting used to. Popular as it is within Catalonia, the shirt is not exactly a beauty. Too bad that there have been rumors that it will maintain the permanent third kit.

My rating: 5/10 stars.

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Brazil (Home 2012)

New year, new jersey! That makes it three jerseys in three years and I am afraid a new trend is setting in. Or is it because of the Olympics that Brazil presented a new jersey for 2012? Whatever the reason, a new one it is. Speaking of Olympics: that’s the only trophy that Brazil has not won yet, so they are obsessed by the quest for it. Especially, since neighbors and rivals won already twice in 2004 and 2008. So, it was almost traumatic for many Brazilian fans to lose the final in Wembley to Mexico‘s no-star team. However, 2012 was also probably the first year where Neymar was supposed to carry the new Selecao to triumph although he already featured heavily the previous year. The future will show if the great talent can carry Brazil to another world title.

Unlike the Copa America jersey, the 2012 version features a lot more green but still looks more yellow than usual. This on one side due to the very bold green sleeve trims (which make up almost half of the sleeve) on the other side, the V-neck collar is still yellow, with only the inner collar featuring a very thin green line. To me this is to little to pay tribute to the classic design. Fortunately, the green stripe is gone, so the front of the jersey looks quite balanced again. I am also happy to see the return of a more classic font for the numbers. In fact it does look a lot like the one for the 2010 World Cup and previous seasons.

All in all, we see some improvement, but this shirt looks still to standard to be a true Brazil jersey. In fact, the jersey more or less adopts a design that was used by Nike since 2010 for some of their “lesser” teams. So, I guess this influences my feeling quite some. My verdict: Better than 2011 but still a long way to go. But as we know, Nike delivered for the 2013 Confederations Cup!

My rating: 5/10 stars.

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Santos FC (Home 2012/13)

Besides Bayern’s win yesterday the big news in the soccer world was that Barca finally succeeded in securing Brazilian starlet Neymar after Santos FC successfully resisted offers from Europe for more than three years. Truth be told, Barca was always the forerunner and it was never a question of if but when Neymar will play for the blaugrana. Still, thanks to Neymar Santos experienced a big revival and was able to shed the tag of “Pele’s club” although Edson Arantes will always be linked to the club from the Brazilian port city. For that reason, I thought it is worthwhile to look at the current Santos jersey and give the Brazilian league some love. After all it is the most powerful in South America at the moment and seems to be able to actually accrue some star power.

Although, Santos’ club colors are black and white, the team usually plays in all-white at home (sometimes they use black shorts) and reserves a black-and-white striped jersey for away games. And this season’s jersey (supplied by Nike) is in principle quite plain. It is all white  with a round collar and only the swoosh and the crest (both well placed) feature black. So far, so good. However, the jersey the simplicity of the jersey is really let down by the multitude of sponsors on it. It almost looks like Santos plays in the Austrian Bundesliga. What’s worse is that beside the sponsor on the sleeves, the sponsors add colors that not only are alien to the club;s color scheme but also add too many colors. The main sponsor (has been for the past years) is a big Brazilian bank and is featured in orange with (at least) a black outline. Then, another sponsor is featured on both sponsors in red and white. At least some symmetry is preserved, but with those colors one almost overlooks the famous Santos crest.

The white backside is also marred by the orange main sponsor. Other than that the name and number are applied in black to preserve the color scheme. The font for the number is slightly angular and slim, but OK. It is the more modern looking font used for the name that I dislike somewhat, although it fits with the youthful spirit of the Santos team.

This shirt is a classic example of how sponsors can ruin a very elegant jersey. I understand money is tight – especially outside of the big four European leagues – so this is a necessary evil. But I wish that at least the sponsors respect the clubs colors and don’t disturb the jersey as much as in this case.

My rating: 5/10 stars.

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Brazil (Home 2013)

OK, for “International Monday” we are leaving Europe and have a look at two great new national team jerseys. First off, we have Brazil supplied by Nike since 1996 and probably their most prized asset. There have been up and downs but this year’s jersey has just a fabulous retro look that instantly makes it one of my all-time favorite Brazil shirts.

It is the classical yellow jersey with green collar, numbers and sleeve trims. The sleeve trims are bolder than usual, but gives them a modern look. The collar harks back memories of the early 80s when Tele Santana’s Brazil was one of the most beloved teams on the planet. Swoosh and crest are nicely placed. The placing of the number on the front shown above is actually incorrect as we saw during the Confederations Cup. Fortuantely, it is centered making for a fabulous shirt.

The back again looks great and I do like the font used for letters and numbers. It looks classy.

There are so many things to like about this one. I really love what Nike did here. I think the worst thing is that this shirt will only be worn at the Confederations Cup and not at the World Cup. Truly a pity.

My rating: 10/10 stars.

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