When the Super Eagles file out for their first game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Croatia at Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad on June 16, 2018, they will be sporting new kits from sportswear manufacturer Nike.
The renowned American brand sealed the deal to kit Nigeria from April 1, 2015, until at least 2018, coming 13 years after it designed the Super Eagles’ jersey to the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.
Nigeria will thus join other teams like Brazil, Portugal, Croatia, England, France, Australia, Poland, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to promote the global sportswear brand in Russia.
What fans are saying about the kits?
The new Nike kits have been largely welcomed by fans and stakeholders for their beauty and stylishness.
Former Eagles forward, Etim Esin, told NAIJ.com that the new jersey reminds him of Nigeria’s kits to USA 94.
Iheanacho, Ndidi and Iwobi rocking Super Eagles' World Cup jersey. Photo credit: Iwobi's snapchat
Esin said: “The new Nike jersey is unique and reminds me of the exploits of the Super Eagles at USA ’94.
“I like the design since it is coming from Nike and it will be top quality for the players to do their stuff in Russia."
Not everyone agrees with Nike’s choice of the colours though. They insist that Nike got the colours wrong and this could affect Nigeria at the Mundial.
They see colour and design as playing additional roles in determining the final score line of a game.
To them, countries like Brazil’s Seleção, France’s Les Bleus and USA’s Yanks have, to a large extent, created a colour identity and tradition with their respective national team jerseys.
“Nigeria’s Super Eagles will be playing at Russia 2018 with the wrong colours. Despite all the noise about the new Eagles jersey, I don’t think the away colour is truly Nigerian. I had thought Nike would have given Nigeria the same tradition it has achieved with the likes of Brazil, USA, and France over the years,” explained a football fan, who simply wanted to be identified as Charlie Oscar.
But to many other Nigerians, the colour, design or manufacturer of a football jersey has little or no role to play when it comes to a team’s success or failure.
The big question on their lips is how well the national team can perform at the forthcoming World Cup with the new Nike kits.
Kits and cultural heritage
Despite the arguments for and against, eggheads at Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Glasshouse are convinced that the new kits showcase the country’s rich cultural edge.
“A constant in Nigeria is an endearing love of football,” NFF president, Amaju Pinnick said during the unveiling of the new kits in London last week.
“When football is on, everything stops. The new Nike kit designs honour our federation’s rich traditions. Moreover, they celebrate everything we relish about our culture,” noted the NFF boss.
Pinnick’s position echoes that of kit manufacturers, Nike who noted that the new Eagles collection is imbued with the Naija spirit.
The manufactures maintained that “the home kit carries a familiar badge recoloured to honor the ’96 gold medal-winning "Dream Team" and tradition (as always, there’s a full green kit, though it’s now the away stripe rather than the home.
Nike Football Design Director, Dan Farron said: “With Nigeria, we wanted to tap into the attitude of the nation. We built this kit and collection based on the players' full identities.
"We started to see trends in attitude and energy connecting the athletes to music, fashion and more.
“They are part of a resoundingly cool culture,” admitted Farron, who was head of the Nike Football design group that also had series of interactions with Eagles stars.
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Interestingly, after five World Cup appearances, Nigeria has played a total of 18 matches; 5 wins, 3 draws and 10 defeats. In the process, the Eagles scored 20 goals and conceded 26.
A breakdown of the stats revealed that while playing with Adidas kits at USA ’94, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, the Eagles fared better, scoring a total of 13 goals from 11 matches.
On the other hand, while playing with Nike kits at France ’98 and Korea/Japan 2002, the team scored 7 goals.
USA ’94 (Adidas)
At USA ’94, Nigeria was kitted by Adidas and exited the competition at the Round of 16, after playing 4 games; 2 wins, 0 draw and 2 defeats. The team tutored by Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, scored a total of 7 goals while conceding 4 to place 9th at the end of proceedings.
Super Eagles’ jersey at USA 94. Photo credit: Goal.com
France ’98 (Nike)
France ’98 saw the football eggheads opting for Nike kits. Painfully, the change did little to affect the overall performance of the team.
Despite qualifying from a group that had the likes of Spain, Paraguay and Bulgaria, the Eagles were sent home at the Round of 16 following Denmark’s 4-1 bashing.
Nigeria won 2 games, draw 0 and lost 2 games; scoring 6 goals and conceded 9 (-3) to finish on the 12th position, three spots behind the 9th spot it finished at US ’94.
Super Eagles’ jersey at France 98. Photo: BBC
Korea/Japan 2002 (Nike)
After an unimpressive show at France ’98 where Nigeria played with Nike kits, the Eagles were again kitted by the same kit manufacturers’ at Korea/Japan 2002.
Painfully, the performance of the team did not impress the team’s teaming fans as Nigeria recorded her worst show in the global football fiesta. The team failed to qualify from the group stage as the Festus Onigbinde-tutored side played 3, won 0, drew 1 and lost 2; scoring a solitary goal and conceded 3 to finish 27th overall.
Super Eagles’ jersey at Korea/Japan 2002. Photo: FIFA
South Africa 2010 (Adidas)
At South Africa 2010 World Cup, Nigeria returned to former kit manufacturers’ Adidas as against Nike that the Eagles used at Korea/Japan 2010. With Adidas, Eagles again failed to move past the group stage. The Lars Lagarback-led side played 3 matches, won 0, drew 1 and lost 2. The team scored 3 goals and conceded 5 goals to finish 27th.
Kaita shown a red card in Super Eagles’ jersey at South Africa 2010. Photo: FIFA
Brazil 2014 (Adidas)
Nigeria maintained Adidas as the official kit manufacturers going into the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The Eagles who were the reigning African Champions going into the Mundial, managed to qualify from their group but exited the competition at the Round of 16 after 4 games.(1 win, 1 draw and 2 defeats). The Stephen Keshi side scored 3 goals but conceded 5 to finish 16th overall.
Super Eagles’ jersey at Brazil 2014. Photo: FIFA
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Conclusion
An interesting fact from the stats above is that the Eagles’ defence has shipped in more goals with Nike kits when compared to Adidas.
In just two editions of the World Cup (France ’98 and Korea/Japan 2002), Nigeria conceded 12 goals unlike the 14 goals it conceded across three World Cups (USA ’94, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014) when the team played with Adidas kits.
It therefore cannot be out of place to say that the Eagles’ have not fared better playing with Nike kits.
However, it remains to be seen if the previous ‘bad times’ experienced by Nigeria while playing with Nike kits will continue with the new kits at Russia 2018. Only time will tell.
Feature story written and sent in by NAIJ.com's contributor Uchenna Ajah
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Source: Sports.naija.ng
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