I found Adidas Uniforms in another thread. I like the matching wristband and whistle! I thought the whistle should match, too! The underwear looks pretty inviting also. -- scratch that, the babe in adidas sports bra just got replaced with a blue whistle. Thoughts?
They do look pretty slick, although, IMO the blue with yellow trim is kinda bright. About the collar, is it a real collar or just made to look like it has a collar?
I too quite like the design. The red makes me think of the Spanish uniform, but apart from that..... The Champions League jerseys are my personal favourite though.
it is a real collar, a little bit lighter than the official sports collar, though. personally, i don't think they're great. i think they make you look fat.
ok, this might be a very naive question... but how do they determine the uniforms for each team, their color and what not!? Any regulations on that?!
Afaik, black is always the first preference for referees, so where possible, they should wear that. After that, it depends on the colour of the teams' kits. In theory, there should be four distinctive colours worn by the two teams (2 x outfield, 2 x GKs) so the referee will choose from whatever he has left; black, yellow, red, or blue.
I'll dig later, but I actually think it's somewhere in the World Cup regulations that FIFA decides which color the referees wear based on what will look best for television. At the very least, FIFA definitely decides which colors the teams wear (of the ones they have presented for the tournament). It may not be codified that FIFA decides what the referees wear, but in practice, I'm pretty sure that's how it happens. Taking the opening match as an example... South Africa will be in yellow with green trim. That might cause FIFA to put Mexico in their black (rather than their green). So I think you could expect to see the referees in red or blue, depending on what the goalkeepers are wearing.
Each team submits their Primary, secondary, and third uniforms to the Games committee before the Cup. Home team gets to wear their primary uniform. Depending on color conflicts, the committee decides which uniform the visitors and referees will wear. I think black is the first preference only in England! I've worn black at most once this Spring in about 40 games. I think you'll see the referees in a lot of red, blue and yellow in South Africa. Red seems to be a popular color with non-red teams. When assigned games in MLS, referees are told what color each team is to be wearing and what color they are to wear.
In UEFA matches, black is always the first preference, with iirc, yellow second. I think you're right. I remember reading something about it at the last WC where it was listed on the appointments what colours the refs would wear.
Just to clarify... unless there was a change for this year, which I doubt, there are no third jerseys at FIFA competitions. Teams create them to use for friendlies and make revenue, but they can only bring two kits to the World Cup.
Did anyone notice if either referee today was wearing matching watches or if there's an "Official" Watch for this World Cup they're giving the referees?
I was wondering the same thing this evening, i forgot to look during the games. This would be interesting to know.
At the end of the Uruguay/France match, the center ref's watch was clearly visible. It looked almost like it could be a Garmin ForeRunner 450:
Interestingly the watch hasn't been highly advertised the way it has since at least 1998. As for uniforms, we've seen blue, red and black in the first three games. Anyone want to bet whether we see yellow when Nigeria plays Argentina? FIFA makes sure Adidas gets its advertising.
I kinda wish we had Adidas instead of Official Sports cause I keep getting Official Sports socks that fall apart.
Found this on the USMNT board: http://www.soccerfanatic.com/SFCBlog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/FWC-team-colours-18-05-10.pdf It's the kit color guide, including goalkeepers and referees, for all first round matches (I spoke too soon on Nigeria-Argentina, but we will see yellow later today). Interestingly, the blue will only be worn by referees in 3 of the 48 first round matches.
Blue has always been the 4th choice colour though in FIFA (Dolphin and the Blue for 06 and 08). It's a weird colour to choose given how many teams wear blue. I've always thought Green is the best for a 4th colour. As for watches, all the officials are given Adidas watches at the presentation ceremony before the tournament kicks off. See Vergara or FdB's blogs for photos of them receiving them. Interestingly, all the officials are wearing Adidas boots too, so I wonder if Adidas supply them with boots as well as the kit.
I think you're right on all counts. Interesting. So Casio was a one-off for 2006 then? Since at least 1998, they've been given a set of turfs and a set of cleats from Adidas, so that's not a surprise.
I've got to say that the horizontal yellow band across the back of the uniform in the butt and the shoulder blades and into the arm pits looks quite strange. This is definitely a case of less is more.