It’s probably fair to say that European football superpowers dominate much of the attention across the globe. That isn’t to say the attention is necessarily undeserved, but I still think clubs from leagues aside from La Liga, the EPL, Bundesliga, etc. should get some attention as well. With that said, let’s talk about a jersey from one of the premier Mexican league teams, Club América.
The team’s colors are navy and yellow, so of course those were the colors Nike used to create this Club America jersey. The collar, for the most part, is a plain yellow with a strip of red fabric running across the front of the neck. The sleeves are also simply yellow without any particular design, with a navy cuff. What really strikes me about this jersey is the design on the abdomen and the alignment of the sponsor logos and team crest. Starting from just below the neckline, we get a stitched Club América team crest pretty much where the sternum is. While we’re on the crest, I have to say, this team crest is definitely underrated. It’s slick and classy, I think, with silhouetted North and South America continents sitting between a capital “C” and “A” and a old style football playing background to it all. Very cool.
Anyway, just below the crest is the obligatory Nike swoosh in yellow. Beneath the swoosh is the “Bimbo” logo, which fits in very well with the shirt, and below that, is the Powerade logo, just for good measure. Normally, the team crest and production company are on either side of the chest, but I like what Nike did here. It kind of brings a unity to the shirt whereas the regular design style would have looked a little too chaotic. The other element tying it all together is the stylized abdomen. Starting from the armpit, there are wide diagonal bands, designed to simulate the abdomen muscles, I suppose. There’s also a vertical yellow band that begins about mid rib level and spans the stylized abdomen while gradually thinning out at the bottom. Oh, and there’s also a Corona logo printed across the shoulder blades on the back of the soccer jersey, because eh, what’s one more sponsor?
As for the feel of the shirt, I’d say the inside feels pretty much like a basketball jersey. It’s 100% polyester and made with Nike Dri-FIT technology, so it’s comfortable. The price tag is $63.99 at SoccerPro.com, which is definitely a fair price for this jersey. It’s a standard Nike jersey with some pretty cool design aspects, and it’s for a team in a lesser known professional league. What’s not to like?
Written by: Kris Dyer, soccerprose.com
