I've just read an article about the fight between the big 3 (the American Nike and the Germans Adidas and Puma) for the right to sponsor the NTs in this year's World Cup. I found out Nike is sponsoring 8 NTs : Brazil, Portugal, USA, Holland, Mexico, Australia, South Korea and Croatia. Adidas, 6: Germany, France, Argentina, Japan, Spain, Trinidad e Tobago (?) Puma, 12, the most NT's, but mostly sponsoring less expensive African and Asian countries:Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Paraguay, Ghana, Iran, Togo, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Angola, Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia. So, my question is: who is sponsoring the other 6 teams? England, Sweden, Costa Rica, etc. Is some local company fashioning their uniforms? Who is better? Of course Puma will be exposed more, at least on the first round, but Nike has Brazil and Holland, and Adidas also has its powerhouses, while all Puma has is the underachiever (nowadays) Italy.
IIRC Costa Rica is with Joma. Ecuador is with Marathon (South American manufacturer). IIRC Ukraine and Serbia will wear Lotto. England and Sweden wear Umbro. So there.
Um....Czech Republic? That's Puma's best team, and a team that threatens to go quite deep in the tournament. So I wouldn't say that "all Puma has" is Italy.
All of Nike's teams and all of Adidas's teams have a shot at advancing... on the other hand only 6 of Puma's do w/ Czech Republic being the only close to sure thing. Puma didn't do too great w/ the uniforms and the ones the designed are ugly as hell anyway so I'm kinda glad.
wow. couldn't disagree with you more. I think the Polish jersey and those of many of the African nations Puma designed are both creative and aesthetically pleasing. Not a big fan of the Italian jerseys though . . .
Sorry I shoulda been more clear... I was mainly talking about the Italian jerseys. I dunno what Puma was thinkin there.
You forgot Italy. They're Puma this year. The away jersey is ugly, but does the home jersey may look different. Do you have an image?
I meant like traditional powerhouses. I'm not denying Czechs aren't good. But the big 5 are Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany and England (I mean media hype here). Also, thanks for Fiorentina, who answered my questions about sponsoring. I totally forgot about Umbro and I have no idea how big are the other , but even sponsoring Equador is something big, because the whole world will see it.
Whilst all of Nike's teams have a shot at advancing - they ALL can't advance. Australia, Brazil and Croatia are in the same group. Guarenteed 1 team will NOT qualify.
But they have a good chance. Also, this year, there will be an emphasis on oversized badges (Nike, Adidas, England's Umbro shirt).
The Nike range this year is awful. I hate the Holland and Brazil kits and portugal. Portugal's old kit was ace. This new one is awful.