HERE FOR THE COMMENTS: UMBRO FOR JAMAICA

I think we can all agree that a great look for Jamaica had been a long time coming. Yes, the Jamaican bobsled team from Cool Runnings had a memorable look, but at least in the world of soccer, I believe most people would point back to the 1998 Kappa World Cup jersey as the last time the Caribbean island nation gave us a kit to talk about. This, however, is now a thing of the past as Umbro’s brand new home and away options for Jamaica left me dumbfounded when I first laid eyes on them. While I could talk about everything that’s great about these kits, as usual, I thought I should switch it up a bit and extend the dialogue we’re going to have about Jamaica’s new look by sharing some of the comments I have gathered throughout various Instagram pages.

It is obvious Umbro’s effort has received overwhelming approval. No comment can be more reflective of this support than the one below:

spencer_loop: “Usain bolt about to play”

I can’t disagree with this comment. The kits make me want to play for Jamaica and I am not even Jamaican. Additionally, I love these kits so much that I see myself outrunning the fastest man on Earth in order to get them.

Both kits are exceptional, but some people have already chosen their favorite.

guerrilla_fc: “that away kit is 🔥”

Guerrilla FC expressed a very common opinion on social media. By far, Jamaica’s away kit steals the show with its unique graphic print across the lower portion of the jersey. The home kit, however, is still a solid option as it too has some distinct features. What I love most about the home look is the taping on the sleeves which combines the Umbro diamonds with a prominent feature of the Jamaican flag. This is a perfect blend of both brand and country and you get something that is easily identifiable as both Umbro and Jamaica – something that’s pretty rare to see nowadays.

Some people though are more modest with their approval.

yungrichard:_ “kits lowkey heat 🔥🔥🔥”

@yungrichard_ writes the biggest understatement about these kits. There is nothing lowkey about them. If anything his comment should have read that these kits are highkey heat.

From this, you move on to the people who already have these kits among the best of the year.

brxxxck: “Way hotter than the Nigeria 🇳🇬 kits at the WC.”

Okay so this comment is certainly up for debate, but I do not think @brxxxck is wrong when saying this. If there is one thing that Jamaica’s kits have going for them that the Nigeria kit does not, it is that Umbro has devised truly original looks that are not inspired by previous designs.

Did I say people really love these kits?

alistairslack: “They are so peng”

Okay so this comment is one I was initially confused by but I assumed it just had to be good. One quick Google search later and I found out I was right.

Still, not everyone will be a fan.

liam_mclachlan113: Possibly one of the ugliest kits I’ve ever seen

Yes, this comment left me the most confused of all. It’s not a very popular opinion whatsoever either. I don’t agree with it, but I am sure @liam_mclachlan113 will see the error of his way eventually.

On that note, I welcome everyone that may either hate or appreciate these kits to share their own comments with us below!

FORGET NIGERIA’S SHIRT, IT IS CHINA’S TIME TO SHINE

Apologies but this had to be done. I’m saying it; China’s new away kit is so much better than Nigeria’s home kit. There, it’s said. And I’m going to tell you why.

Nigeria’s shirt has dominated the scene since it was revealed back in February, and rightly so. It’s a fantastic kit. Not only is the shirt good but the whole release was solid and Nigeria and Nike worked wonders on the products and reveal itself. It’s skyrocketed Nigeria into the forefront of the kit scene for this World Cup, even though they have next to no chance of taking home the gold. However, they have won the kit game. The shirt sold out within minutes online when it was released, huge queues formed outside NikeTown in London, and other stores and the resell value of the shirt near tripled online (much to the disgust of us football fans, eh? People cashing in on our growing culture).

But let’s discuss overall kit releases this year – not just within the World Cup. And that’s where the Nigeria kit plummets back down to Earth and tastes the loss it has been handed by the King: China Away.

The China kit is a perfect juxtaposition of adventurous yet exquisite. It’s a near perfect shirt, in my opinion. Albeit, China isn’t good enough to even qualify for the tournament, but their kit game is, in my opinion, one of the best. Ranked 73rd in the World rankings, with President Xi Jingping pumping in investment to the infrastructure of the Chinese game, the nation is yet to see any sort of improvement regarding their country’s team. But what a wonderful kit to use that makes them look less of an average footballing side. They may not be very good, but at least they look slick doing so.

A wonderful design is used on the kit; paying tribute to the country’s history and culture, using an exquisite dragon graphic. This was a very bold move, regarding that it could have either went two ways; incredibly bad or spectacularly brilliant. And it went the way of the latter. Combining this with a one-color design in a wonderful black with neon green detailing, the kit pops. It works. It’s so good. I can’t stress that enough.

I mentioned something about the kit being ‘near perfect’ earlier in this piece. Now, I say this based one thing: that DAMN neckline. I’ve argued this on twitter for weeks, ever since it was first revealed and now it needs to be addressed here. If Nike didn’t ruin every kit, even the Nigeria one, with this silly neckline then maybe we’d have a lot of kits regarded better than they are being said to be right now. I know I certainly would rank a lot of Nike’s kits higher if it wasn’t for this. And the fact they’ve put it on this China kit, a kit that so magical, is just upsetting. I’d still rock it though.

It’s a kit that rivals some of the best, and if China were good enough to get in the World Cup, then it would (or at least should) be getting the recognition that Nigeria has been and more. It deserves that, even if they haven’t made it to Russia. It’s just that good. A kit made for the culture. A kit made of us football kit gurus to swoon over. A kit made that is just, to put it simply, incredible.