Tag Archives: Italy

1990 World Cup – all of the kits worn

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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  • You’ll notice we have the word ‘worn’ in the title – change kits which didn’t get game-time aren’t included. That’s preferable to including some and then missing others we mightn’t be aware of
  • The labelling we’ve used is ‘Primary’ for the country’s first-choice kit and ‘Change’ for the second shirt; ‘Alternative’ is a kit which has different shorts or socks to the accepted make-up of a kit
  • For more information about each kit and when it was worn, see the following: Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Knockout Stages
  • Oh, and we did something similar for the 1970 World Cup

Austria

Argentina

Belgium

Brazil

Cameroon

Colombia

Costa Rica

Czechoslovakia

Egypt

England

Italy

Netherlands

Republic of Ireland

Romania

Scotland

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

USSR

UAE

USA

Primary
Alternative
Goalkeeper

Uruguay

West Germany

Yugoslavia

Match Officials

1990 World Cup kit-tracker – knockout stage

11 Monday Jun 2018

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Second round

Cameroon 2 Colombia 1 (aet)

1990-World-Cup-second-round-Cameroon-Colombia-01

A game remembered for Roger Milla’s goal as he dispossessed René Higuita, who had gone on an ill-advised dribble up the field. Higuita had clearly been impressed by the blue jersey Bodo Illgner wore against Colombia, as he was in a grey version.

His team-mates wore their yellow away shirts (Colobmbia wouldn’t change their home colours from red until 1992), which had different blue shorts to the home kit.

Their yellow socks meant Cameroon changed to green sets – even though there hadn’t been a problem with the Indomitable Lions against yellow-blue-red when they met Romania. Nor was the amount of green on Thomas N’Kono’s shirt considered a problem.

Costa Rica 1 Czechoslovakia 4

1990-World-Cup-second-round-Costa-Rica-Czechoslovakia-01

Tomáš Skuhravý scored a hat-trick for the Czechs, who wore their home socks with their change shirts.

Costa Rica wore a different red shirt to that of the group stages, with a red collar and a Lotto logo watermark. Having contravened the rules on logoless socks earlier, they wore the plain white away set here.

Meanwhile, having been there, done that and worn the three shirts, goalkeeper Luis Gabelo Conejo got injured, meaning that Hermido Barrantes took his place.

He wore a yellow version of the purple and green tops Conejo had worn, as well as having his number on his shorts.

Brazil 0 Argentina 1

1990-World-Cup-second-round-Brazil-Argentina-01

Brazil changed socks with Argentina wearing the white shorts from their away kit, the darker blue jarring with the rest.

Goycochea wore a ‘space invaders’ shirt for the first time, with the pattern the same way up as Egypt’s Ahmed Shoubeir rather than like Higuita, but arranged differently.

West Germany 2 Netherlands 1

1990-World-Cup-second-round-West-Germany-Netherlands-01

Both sides in their home strips and first-choice goalkeeper shirts.

  • Republic of Ireland 0 Romania 0 (aet, 5-4 on penalties)

1990-World-Cup-second-round-Ireland-Romania-01

Unlike 1987 against Brazil, Packie Bonner was given a proper grey adidas jersey and it was his penalty save from Daniel Timofte which allowed David O’Leary to score the penalty which sent Ireland into the quarter-finals.

The shirt differed from the yellow in that the stripes only ran to the shoulders.

Italy 2 Uruguay 0

1990-World-Cup-second-round-Italy-Uruguay-01

Uruguay wore their home shorts – with larger numbers. Given how strict Fifa are nowadays, it would be difficult to imagine a game with one team in white shirts and either goalkeeper in a grey/silver so light.

Spain 1 Yugoslavia 2 (aet)

1990-World-Cup-second-round-Spain-Yugoslavia-01

Yugoslavia changed to their away kit, with goalkeeper Tomislav Ivković wearing a proper adidas shirt instead of a rebadged Uhlsport. His top – officially named Montevideo rather than ‘scribbles’ –  differed from Jan Stejskal’s and Tony Meola’s in that the pattern was entirely grey.

England 1 Belgium 0 (aet)

1990-World-Cup-second-round-England-Belgium-01

David Platt scored a winner in injury time at the end of extra time, both sides in first-choice kits.

Quarter-finals

Argentina 0 Yugoslavia 0 (aet, 3-2 on penalties)

1990-World-Cup-quarter-final-Argentina-Yugoslavia-01

A first outing for Argentina’s change shirts, worn with the home shorts and socks while Yugoslavia wore their red socks.

One difference among the Argentina team was that Diego Maradona opted to wear a pair of Napoli away socks, featuring the Ennerre logo. They didn’t help him to score his penalty in the shootout, but Goycochea’s heroics saw them through.

Argentina-1990-adidas-away-kit-Yugoslavia-Maradona-Napoli-socks-01Italy 1 Republic of Ireland 0

1990-World-Cup-quarter-final-Italy-Ireland-01

Magic socks couldn’t help Maradona and meeting Pope John Paul II wasn’t enough to save Ireland as Toto Schillaci scored again.

West Germany 1 Czechoslovakia 0

1990-World-Cup-quarter-final-West-Germany-Czechoslovakia-01

Another straightforward home kit v home kit game for Germany.

England 3 Cameroon 2 (aet)

1990-World-Cup-quarter-final-England-Cameroon-01

Two Cameroon goals in five second-half minutes had them on course for victory but a pair of Gary Lineker penalties sent England through.

Semi-finals

Italy 1 Argentina 1 (aet, 3-4 on penalties)

1990-World-Cup-semi-final-Italy-Argentina-01

Schillaci netted again, but Claudio Caniggia equalised for Argentina and Goycochea came up trumps in the shootout again.

Having considered Argentina’s stripes to clash with blue shirts and white shorts in the previous round, Fifa allowed both home strips here.

England 1 West Germany 1 (aet, 3-4 on penalties)

1990-World-Cup-semi-final-England-West-Germany-01

Both sides had worn their home kits up until now, with England winning the toss for colours.

As with their home strip, Germany had had the same basic change kit since 1988, but originally it had a collar. Penalty misses by Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle meant that Germany advanced.

Third-place play-off

Italy 2 England 1

1990-World-Cup-third-place-play-off-Italy-England-01

The purpose of this fixture was actually to reward the two teams who had gone through the tournament wearing only one kit (and not having to change goalkeeper shirts), it just so happened that they were the two beaten semi-finalists.

Final

West Germany 1 Argentina 0

1990-World-Cup-final-West-Germany-Argentina-01

It was the same final pairing as four years previously, when Argentina had won in their home kit.

This time, they were in the darker blue, with Goycochea wearing the same socks as the rest of the team.

A penalty decided it for Germany – having scored from the spot against Czechoslovakia, captain Lothar Matthäus declined to take the kick when they were awarded it as he was wearing a new pair of boots.

Instead, his Inter Milan clubmate Andreas Brehme, normally left-footed, scored with his right foot to give them glory.

 

1990 World Cup kit-tracker – Group A

29 Tuesday May 2018

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  • As part of the build-up to our game-by-game kit-tracker for the upcoming World Cup, we’re looking back at past tournaments. See here for 1970 content and below is the first part of the 1990 retrospective.

Italy 1 Austria 0

1990-World-Cup-Group-A-Italy-Austria-01.png

Italy were in the classic style they had used throughout the 1980s, with a flag trim on the collar and cuffs the only adornment, while it would be another decade before a manufacturer’s logo would be allowed on the azzurri kit. Goalkeeper Walter Zenga was in the traditional silver/grey.

Austria certainly pushed the envelope with an interesting ‘twisted’ pattern, while goalkeeper Klaus Lindenberger’s shorts were just twisted. Sub Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci came on to score a late winner for Italy.

Czechoslovakia 5 USA 1

1990-World-Cup-Group-A-USA-Czechoslovakia-01.png

Of the 24 teams at Italia 90, adidas supplied the kits for 15 and while some templates were used more than once, there was still quite a lot of variation.

After the fall of communism, Czechoslovakia went with the country’s flag instead of a crest, while the USA’s kit was without any red bar some trim on the badge.

Both goalkeepers, Jan Stejskal and Tony Meola, wore the same style of shirt, which featured a two-tone ‘scribble’ effect.

Italy 1 USA 0

1990-World-Cup-Group-A-Italy-USA-01.png

It probably seems counter-intuitive that the US would change from blue shorts to white, the same colour as Italy’s, to lessen the overall clash, but FIFA preferred that rather than blue-white-blue against white-blue-white.

In more recent World Cups, Italy would have changed shorts too to make two solid blocks.

Austria 0 Czechoslovakia 1

1990-World-Cup-Group-A-Austria-Czechoslovakia-01

While Austria’s black socks hadn’t been considered to clash with Italy’s blue, here the Czechs wore their away set as they secured a place in the knockout section with a second win.

Italy 2 Czechoslovakia 0

1990-World-Cup-Group-A-Italy-Czechoslovakia-01

The hosts made it three wins from three – they would wear their home kit in every game – against a Czech side wearing a third different combination, with the change shirt a simple reversal of the home.

USA 1 Austria 2

1990-World-Cup-Group-A-USA-Austria-01.png

Victory wasn’t enough for Austria to advance. As so often, their change kit saw white swapped for red and black swapped for white – nowadays, this is their primary colour pattern with white/black the second choice.

1970 World Cup – all of the kits

26 Saturday May 2018

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  • Note: ‘Primary’ obviously refers to a country’s first-choice kit, while ‘Alternative’ here means the main shirt with different shorts/socks, ‘Change’ is the second or third kit 
  • See here for Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 and the knockout stages

Belgium

Brazil

Bulgaria

Czechoslovakia

El Salvador

England

Israel

Italy

Mexico

Morocco

Peru

Romania

Sweden

Uruguay

USSR

West Germany

Referees

1970 World Cup kit-tracker – Group 2

18 Friday May 2018

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The second part of our look back at the colours worn in Mexico in 1970 – see here for Group 1.

This section provided two of the semi-finalists in Italy and Uruguay, but it was a close battle – Italy topped the group on four points but Uruguay only edged out Sweden on goal-difference while Israel finished bottom with two.

Uruguay 2 Israel 0

1970-World-Cup-kits-Uruguay-Israel-01

With three teams in first-choice shirts of varying shades of blue, pleasing there was logic shown in that each country changed once. Israel were in a reversal of their normal jerseys.

To combat the Mexican heat, both they and Sweden had Umbro shirts in the new Airtex fabric (thanks to Simon Shakeshaft for this information), with tiny perforations running through the material to allow greater breathability.

Italy 1 Sweden 0

1970-World-Cup-kits-Group-2-Italia-Sverige.png

Sweden also had Umbro Airtex and the fact that the other three countries wore blue meant that they played all three games in their home kit, with goalkeeper Ronnie Hellström in the same green shirt.

English referee Jack Taylor wore one of the few shirts which didn’t have buttons or a zip all the way down the front.

Uruguay 0 Italy 0

1970-World-Cup-kits-Group-2-Italia-Uruguay-01.png

Uruguay’s change shirts were plain white, with the same shorts and socks used.

Sweden 1 Israel 1

1970-World-Cup-kits-Group-2-Sweden-Israel-01.png

Oddly, the white socks worn with Israel’s home shirts were different to the plain set used with the away. Ethiopian referee Seyoum Tarekegn wore socks which had as much white on them as black, as well as massive cuffs on his shirt.

Sweden 1 Uruguay 0

1970-World-Cup-kits-Group-2-Sweden-Uruguay-01.png

Israel 0 Italy 0

1970-World-Cup-kits-Israel-Italia-01

Having changed to red for the game against Sweden, Israel goalkeeper Itzhak Vissoker stayed in it. Italy’s change shorts were of a slightly darker shade of blue, while the shirt design remains, to our minds, a classic.

World Cup Classics – Italy, 1938

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

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Italy went into the 1938 World Cup in France as the holders, and would go on to become the first country to retain the title.

Having beaten Norway after extra time in their first-round game (the competition was straight knockout), they advanced to meet the hosts in the quarter-finals at Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris.

Obviously, due to both countries having blue as a first-choice colour, a draw had to take place to see who would change, with Italy drawing the short straw.

Conventional wisdom has it that Benito Mussolini ordered that an all-black kit be worn, for the first and only time. While it’s not hard to imagine the influence of il duce in the switch away from white second shirts, black had been used against the French in 1935 and also in Italy’s successful 1936 Olympic campaign in Berlin.

Italy-1938-maglia-nera-Francia-01

The black would prove to be a lucky charm, with Italy winning 3-1 before beating Brazil in the semi-final and then Hungary in the decider.

The late 30s were of course also notable for the outbreak of the second World War and, unsurprisingly, the black shirts fell out of fashion after the fall of fascism, with white restored as the back-up option.

Cold War Classic no. 6 – Italy v Yugoslavia, 1980

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

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Thanks to world renowned kit expert Simon ‘Shakey’ Shakeshaft for help with some of the information below.

Back in CWC3, we touched on the fact that literally every team representing a communist state in eastern Europe was wearing adidas kits by the 1980s.

The dominating presence of this most capitalist of western brands (and still we love it) must surely have been somewhat of an embarrassment to any staunch communists, since at least retrospectively it seems like an outward indicator of the eventual collapse of the system. The last side in the eastern bloc to make the switch to adidas was East Germany in 1982, and even then they had previously been wearing (unmarked) Erima kits, another West German brand which had been bought by adidas in 1976.

Many of these adidas kits were in fact produced in local eastern European factories under licence from adidas, whose own apparel production was limited at the time and often outsourced. One such instance was our highlighted country for today, Yugoslavia –  but, in a sudden swerve, I can reveal that we are not focusing on their beautiful and historic adidas kits that they wore like the rest (that day will come, I’m sure). Instead, we are looking at a little-known period where they were one exception to the Pax Adi Dassler.

In political terms, the Balkan Superstate (I capitalise that since I imagine it as a WWE-like official nickname) was also an exception as the one country in eastern Europe not to be part of the Warsaw Pact (Albania also withdrew in 1968 but were originally a founding member). This was reflected in football as more than one eastern player would use away games in Yugoslavia as an opportunity to defect to the west, such as Hungary’s Lajos Kü in 1977 and East Germany’s youth coach Jörg Berger in 1979.

On the pitch, Yugoslavia were one of the earliest to adopt the three stripes with their 1974 World Cup kits manufactured under license by the company of Raymond Kopa, who we also came across in CWC3 as French kit shorts manufacturer in 1969. The adidas association would continue until the dissolution of the state in the 1990s. That is, apart from a brief interlude in 1979/80 when the kit contract would be taken over by the company of Rudi Dassler, Adi’s older brother – Puma.

Puma also had a factory in Yugoslavia at the time, with production there including basketball shoes like the Puma Clyde (which advertised the fact they were “Made in Yugoslavia”) and Puma Baskets. With such a presence in the country already, the jump to kit manufacturer maybe wasn’t too much of a leap. Adidas’s apparent oversight in losing the contract for these years is more of a mystery.

Whatever the case, Yugoslavia debuted their new gear at a June 1979 friendly at home to Italy. A sleek, minimalist shirt was used featuring a ‘wrong-facing’ Puma logo (compared with Austria from the same period, though they would also feature it later), with shorts incorporating the trademark Puma formstripe and player number.

Yugoslavia-1979-Puma-home-shirt-01.png

The following year, the kit would evolve, as seen in the September 1980 World Cup qualifier against Denmark.

The shirt was now in the Austrian style, featuring a white ‘insert-V’ wing collar and white bars on the sleeves, widening nearer the neck. The shorts were similar to before, but with the number removed and a switch of leg side for the Puma logo, which was now also facing the opposite direction to the one on the shirt.

Yugoslavia-1980-Puma-home-shirt-01.png

The subsequent qualifier and last game of the year away to Italy in October 1980 would see Yugoslavia’s last outing in Puma. For the Italians; part, it is hardly worth mentioning that the Azzurri were in their classic, timeless, minimalist strip of the period – made by Le Coq Sportif but, as per the conditions laid down by the Italian federation, no markings on the shirt other than the crest.

On the other hand, considering its classic timelessness, it is 100 percent worth mentioning it.

Italy-shirt-maglia-1980-01.png

Forced to wear a change strip for the first and only time in this era, Yugoslavia returned to what was clearly the alternate shirt of the original Puma kit: white apart from the crest and Puma.

Yet another distinct pair of white shorts were also used, making that three, with the Puma now again reversed in side and direction, and nothing else.

Yugoslavia-1980-Puma-away-shirt-white-01

By the following spring’s World Cup qualifier against Greece, the Yugoslavs were back in adidas, closing this obscure, but definitely noteworthy, chapter of their kit history.

Next time, we shall return to the late 1970s and again look at a side wearing a kit that has largely been forgotten, but with a feature, later made famous, that definitely has not.

Ireland’s quick kit change before playing Italy at USA 94

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Eddie O’Mahony has the one of the most comprehensive collections of Republic of Ireland shirts – check his site for proof.

You can now pre-order 40 Shades of Green, the excellent book Eddie has put together charting his collection and a publication to which I am proud to have contributed. To mark this auspicious occasion, here is an excerpt from Andy’s Game, a diary of the USA 1994 World Cup by Ireland captain Andy Townsend.

In that World Cup, Ireland ended up wearing their white adidas away kit in three of their four games, but they were ready to wear it before the other one too, their opener against Italy:

Republic-of-Ireland-1994-adidas-away-kit-shirt-01

15.45: ‘Fifteen minutes to kick-off,’ reminds the talking clock. It’s time for the final act and I remove the t-shirt I’ve worn to stretch and warm up. Boots polished, socks and shorts and shin-guards in place, I slip my jersey over my shoulders and Mick hands me the arm band. An official pops his head around the door: ‘Okay gentlemen, we’re ready.’ And with this a huge roar goes up, ‘Come onnn,’ as we circle the dressing-room, slapping each other down the shoulder, wishing each other the best and shaking hands. I make for the door at the head of the string. Jack, who hasn’t really said that much, is waiting with a final word.

‘Good luck, Andy, Good luck, son. All the best.’

‘Cheers, Jack.’

We’re ready now. I turn with a final chant, ‘Let’s go for it lads,’ and step out. A FIFA official, waiting outside in the corridor, approaches to guide us towards the tunnel, but as soon as he sees our strip, a look of horror comes over his face. ‘You can’t walk out there dressed in white [socks], green [shorts] and white [shirts] – Italy have just gone out wearing white, blue and white. You’ll have to change.’

At first I think he’s joking. ‘Can we not just change the shirts,’ I ask, ‘and wear white [socks]-green-green?’

‘No, the socks…everything must be changed.’

It would be another ten years – the 2004 game away to France – before Ireland would actually wear the combination Townsend suggested, green shirts and shorts with white socks, a green version of Chelsea.

16.00: Pandemonium in the dressing-room. After one and a half hours of twiddling our thumbs, we’ve got one and a half minutes to strip and change our kit. Charlie, our kit man, literally dives into the skip, emptying it furiously – shirts, shorts and socks flying around the room.

‘Twenty-one? Who’s twenty-one?’

‘Yeah, over here.’

‘Thirteen?’

‘Who’s got my shorts, anyone seen an eight?’

‘Mine’s a seven, Charlie.’

The scene of manic chaos is just too much for Jack. Turning his rage on Charlie, he completely blows a fuse: ‘What the fucking hell is going on? What are we doing in the wrong kit?’ Not that it’s poor Charlie’s fault (I fear he might suffer a heart attack) – he never gets his kit wrong.”

94 home-01.png

Ray Houghton’s early goal gave Ireland their first win in a World Cup game and, with white shirts used against Mexico, Norway and the Netherlands, this would prove to be the final outing for the short-lived shirt, as Umbro took over the Ireland contract that autumn.

They would remain until this year, when New Balance became the new suppliers:

 

Fantasy Kit Friday 2016 – a look back

29 Thursday Dec 2016

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Hopefully, you’re aware of Fantasy Kit Friday, our weekly attempt to dress a team up in a historical style different to that which they actually wore. Tomorrow, December 30, will be the final instalment of the year, so we felt it an apposite time to collate all of the offerings together.

While the concept of a weekly edition only manifested itself this year, the idea itself is actually just over two years old, as we road-tested it with four Irish Gaelic games teams in classic adidas:

 

They got a fairly good response, albeit to a limited audience, but other things got in the way of it becoming a regular feature. Even when we gave it a name in April, it was still ad hoc – though, unoriginally, the template was becoming fixed:

It would be nearly a month before another attempt:

We were getting some ‘engagement’, as the digital marketing bods call it, but there was an inherent fear that our adidas bias was unhealthy. We threw it out to the floor, though, and the first request for the now-hashtagged #fantasykitfriday was still from Herzogenrauch, though of a later vintage.

Another break of more than a month ensued – we were learning how to draw on Adobe Illustrator – but this one kick-started a regular weekly flow of higher-quality renderings.

Where possible, we liked to be topical:

And then, occasionally, surreality prevailed (there was a break of a week due to holidays).

At the end of July, work took us to Leeds for a few days, so inspiration was taken from that.

Some of our favourite kits have been the ones that you know could never have happened but still look great.

There’s always time to return to the classic look.

Other times, we feel generous enough to give a two-for-one.

Request are accommodated as much as possible, as it saves us having to think.

For September 9, we conferred with our old sparring partner Andrew Rockall, a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan, to come with a whole suite of Spurs kits and we published them all here. If you can’t be bothered to check, this was the home:

THFC1.png

Some kits can meet opposition from traditionalists…

…and others that you might be unsure about turn out to be well-received.

It’s often fun to use a team’s current (or, in this case, soon-to-be-former) maker and go back to before they had them.

And there are others that are very out there.

This one worked a lot better in our heads than on the screen, sadly.

If we had time, every week would feature a home, away and third as well as goalkeeper kits. Unfortunately, we don’t, but it does make these ones more enjoyable.

As far as we can see, this is the only instance of a team’s own home kit being recoloured.

Looking at these again, one almost has to do a double-take and remember that City didn’t actually have Hummel.

Their rivals switched to Umbro in 1992, but might have looked like this if they did it sooner.

Just after drawing this, we were very pleased with it. Until it was pointed out that Germany’s leisurewear in 1996 was just like this, so that’s probably where the idea subliminally came from.

Another request, more on which you can read about at the wonderful Hull City Kits.

The bias is very much towards the past, so it’s no harm to mix it up every once in a while.

And it’s not all top teams we do either. Any suggestion will be considered.

Collaborate with a friend for an idea, if you want.

But be warned, we can be selfish when we want.

Edit: For completeness, here is the final one: