World Cup uniforms: A closer look at Group E's kits
With the 2014 FIFA World Cup just about underway we've been taking a group-by-group look at what each of the uniforms the 32 participating nations will wear and how they compare to their kits of World Cups past.
Last week we previewed the uniforms of Group A, Group B, Group C, and Group D, we're back this week starting right where we left off, Group E and their teams: Ecuador, France, Honduras, and Switzerland:
ECUADOR
Local name: Ecuador
Flag: Three horizontal stripes: yellow, red, and blue, with the national coat of arms in the middle. Yellow symbolizes the crops, blue is the ocean, and red is the blood spilled defending the country.
World Cup Titles: 0
World Cup Appearance: 3rd (2002-06, 2014)
Ecuador makes their return to the tournament after missing out in 2010 and once again will be the only participating nation who's kits are designed/sponsored by Marathon - a local Ecuadorian athletic supplier. The home kits feature every color in Ecuador's national flag - they are predominantly yellow with the Marathon logo in one corner and the Ecuador national team badge on the other. Shoulders feature a blue pattern, sleeve cuffs are also blue, there's a small strip of red at the bottom of the front collar. A sublimated starburst pattern behind the badge.
The secondary uniforms are a simple color swap of the primaries, blue is yellow and yellow is blue. On the back inside collar of both the yellows and blues is the phrase "Más que el sol contemplamos lucir", which is a line, in Spanish, from Ecuador's national anthem. It roughly translates to "more brightly than the sun shines".
This will only be the third time Ecuador has made the World Cup, every time 'round they go with the awesome flag-mimicking combination of yellow shirt, blue shorts, red socks. This is the same combination they'll go with in 2014.
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FRANCE
Local name: France
Flag: Red, white, and blue tri-color. The red and blue was originally the flag of the city of Paris, white was added to the middle to "nationalize" the design.
World Cup Titles: 1 (1998)
World Cup Appearance: 14th (1930-38, 1954-58, 1966, 1978-86, 1998-2014)
France is taking a step back in time with their 2014 kits, the France Football Federation and Nike teamed up to create a look we hadn't seen the French side wear anything like since the 1958 Cup. The primary kit is denim blue with a white collar, the Nike logo on one side and the FFF's rooster logo on the other. A single white star above the rooster symbolizes France's victory at the 1998 World Cup.
Denim is used as the main jersey body color as a nod to Nîmes, France - a town in the southern part of the country credited with introducing the world to the modern denim textile.
The secondary kits are white with light grey horizontal "hoops" on the entirety of the jersey. In the back collar is the French flag in the shape of a triangle. Like the blue primary the rooster logo, star, and "FFF" are all present.
France has always used a rooster logo in the World Cup on their uniforms. The association between the rooster and France dates back to the middle ages and is simply because the word for rooster in Latin (gallus) is similar to what the area now known as France was called back in those days (Gaul). Originally was used as an insult, later embraced by locals as a religious symbol.
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HONDURAS
Local name: Honduras
Flag: Blue and white horizontal stripes with 5 stars in the middle. The blue represents the ocean which surrounds Central America while the 5 stars are for the former provinces of the Central American Republic (Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras)
World Cup Titles: 0
World Cup Appearance: 3rd (1982, 2010-14)
Honduras will be wearing a white jersey with blue accents as their primary kit in 2014, their uniforms are designed and created by Joma, who also made the swell ACF Fiorentina jersey currently hanging in my closet.
On the front of the jersey, opposite the Joma crest, is a large "H" with "Honduras" written up one side of it. On the other side of the "H" is the five stars we see in their national flag, which (if you read the "Flag" section above) you will know represents their neighboring nations including fellow World Cup team Costa Rica. So that's two national team uniform sets the Costa Ricans will be featured on in 2014... probably a World Cup record.
On the bottom of the jersey inside is the phrase "Honduras, Fe, Respeto, Valentía, Honestidad, Actitud", translates to "Honduras, Faith, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Attitude"
The 2014 kit is similar to what the team wore in their debut Cup appearance in 1982, the crest being the only major difference between the two.
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SWITZERLAND
Local name: Suisse
Flag: A white cross on a red square, one of only 2 countries in the world to use a square-shaped flag
World Cup Titles: 0
World Cup Appearance: 10th (1934-54, 1962-66, 1994, 2006-14)
Warning, Puma templating alert. The Swiss uniform designed by Puma follows the same template they used in this tournament for Italy, Uruguay, Chile, and Algeria - the similarities include the piping up either side of the jersey and a little semi-circle on the cuff of each sleeve.
The Swiss primary kit is red, includes their uniquely square flag on one side, the national football federation logo on the other, and the Puma logo right in the middle. Sublimated behind it all dead center on the jersey is a red cross, taken from the Swiss flag. The secondary kit is the same as the primary except white and is lacking the sublimated cross. On the back collar is "Suisse", how the locals refer to Switzerland.
As they did in 1994 and again in 2006 the red jerseys are scheduled to be worn with red shorts, the white jersey with red shorts. The shorts in 2014 will have "SUISSE" written across the front on the waistband while the socks will be white and include a small Swiss flag on the backs of them.
That's it for today, we'll be back tomorrow with your Group F uniform preview featuring my beloved Argentinians, as well as Bosina-Herzegovina, Iran, and Nigeria.