Nike is “used to taking pre-World Cup pot-shots over its fresh designs,” after fans and players expressed their dislike for the new USMNT World Cup jerseys, according to Doug Mclntyre of FOX SPORTS. Nike Senior Dir of Soccer Apparel Aaron Barnett said people “always hate the new jerseys at first. Then your team wins its first game and it’s the best jersey they’ve ever had.” The new U.S. kit “isn’t remotely as radical as some of the more memorable versions from yesteryear.” The "Bomb Pop" jersey of 2014, the red-striped "Where’s Waldo" one that debuted two years earlier, the denim look the U.S. wore as World Cups hosts in 1994: McIntyre noted “all were far more of a departure from the status quo at the time.” And each of them, “the denim kit especially -- were widely panned when they came out.” Today, “they’re among the most fondly remembered USMNT uniforms of all time.” The “aesthetic of the new U.S. shirt is downright tame by comparison.” For inspiration, Nike Product Line Manager Rolando Cruz said the brand “started looking at classic American jerseys across different sports." Mclntyre writes it is "not a coincidence, then, that the Americans’ look will resemble the other football at the first World Cup to be staged during an NFL season." The shoulder stripes are “right off the gridiron, too.” U.S. Soccer’s badge “is noticeably bigger than usual on both the new white home jersey and blue away.” That, too, “was intentional” (FOXSPORTS.com, 9/15).
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: In Philadelphia, Kerith Gabriel wrote both the home and away U.S. jerseys, "equally bad in their design, make me weirdly embarrassed for a men’s national team that scratched and clawed back to a berth after missing the last World Cup finals tournament." It is "similarly cringey to imagine the defending champion USWNT having to wear these outfits next year." Gabriel wonders “at the lack of creativity from the designing minds at Nike.” Soccer Twitter “was on fire” Thursday morning “as reactions flooded” in. With the World Cup coming to North America in four years, “here’s hoping Nike goes back to the drawing board, refines its focus groups, and delivers something with a little more style and heat” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/15).
Ready for the big stage. 🇺🇸#USMNT x @nikefootball
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