Mar 31, 2013

AC Milan 2012/13 Third Kit

Front view

Back view

Milan's crest.

Inscription inside the collar.


The coolest thing on the shirt: an Italian flag which ends in a pocket.

Pato wearing the shirt during its launch.

ASSOCIAZIONE CALCIO MILAN
-Founded: 16 December 1899
-7 European Cups (Last one: 2007); 18 Italian Leagues (Last one: 2011)
-Biggest rival: Inter Milan
 
-The club was founded as a football and cricket club on 16 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honor of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime.

I had the opportunity to get a shirt of a club from Milan, and obviously I wasn't going to choose any of the plain Inter's kits. They told me it had been very easy to find the shirt because Milan has several stores around the city, and even a two-storey building called Megastore. I think this is the first shirt with a pocket on it I've ever seen, and I really really like it.

It's the 33rd shirt in my collection... I don't really have any superb shirt or anything you couldn't easily find on the Internet, but I feel my collection starts growing faster and every new shirt I receive thrills me like the first one, and that's what really matters :)

I'm going to start focusing on Spanish teams and Asian teams. I suppose there will be more offers now that the season is ending... I have an eye on some shirts like Levante, LionsXII (from Singapore), Villarreal and some former Soviet countries.

Mar 25, 2013

Nigeria 2006/07 Home Kit

Front view

Back view

Nigeria Football Association's crest.

Teamgeist logo.

Obafemi Martins during a match.

NIGERIA NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM 
-First official match: 28 May 1950 
-Honours: 3 African Cup of Nations (Nigeria 1980, Tunisia 1994 and South Africa 2013). 
-Highest FIFA Ranking: 5th (April 1994) 
-Lowest FIFA Ranking: 82nd (November 1999) 
-Highest Elo Rating: 14th (May 2004) 
-Lowest Elo Rating: 87th (December 1964) 
-Top scorer: Rashidi Yekini (1984-1998) - 37 goals 

I said I was gonna buy the shirt of the ACN champions. I'm a man of his words, and here it is. I was wondering about the streets of Madrid when I found a little sports shop with many rare football shirts (such as Mexico, Nigeria or Spain of the 2006 World Cup). Nigeria was the only one that fitted me, so I took that one for just 15€. But it wasn't until I arrived home when I realised I had kept my promise.
The shirt is no big deal, just a normal template, as Adidas has been doing with Nigeria during the past few years.

Mar 22, 2013

China 2008/10 Away Kit

Front view

Back view

Chinese flag and Chinese Wall pattern detail.

Chinese words at the back. I don't really know what does it mean.

Chinese player Gào Lín during a match against South Korea.

CHINA NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM
-First official match: 4 August 1952
-Honours: 2 East Asian Football Championships (South Korea 2005, Japan 2010).
-Highest FIFA Ranking: 37th (December 1998)
-Lowest FIFA Ranking: 109th (March 2013)
-Highest Elo Rating: 26th (October 2001)
-Lowest Elo Rating: 80th (December 2008)
-Top scorer: Hǎo Hǎidōng (1992-2004) - 53 goals

Well, after some many busy weeks I've found a moment to post new shirts again. This one comes from Brad (whose collection you can view here), who was selling some of his shirts. I could get this one just for £10, quite a good price for a China shirt.
It's a decent one, althought China shirts have been improving in the past few years. Adidas didn't work a lot on this.

I'll try to keep posting my latest purchases: Nigeria (ACN Champions!), Milan and a Santos player issue shirt.