Fanshirt
Manufacturer: Adidas (Fake)
Source: eBay
THE COUNTRY
Along with South Africa and Northwest-Europia, the Central African Republic makes it relatively easy to be spotted on a map. While the geographical center of Africa is actually located in the Republic of the Congo, the CAR’s location on the African continent is central enough to be worthy of bearing this name.
Other facts about the country, however, cannot be pictured as lighthearted as this introduction:
The country ranks lowest in GDP, second lowest in the Human Development Index, is considered the unhealthiest country as well as “the worst country in which to be young”.
On top of that, the country has faced countless civil wars in the last decades.
Given these issues, the country’s focus obviously wasn’t the development of its football, hence, the CAR’s footballing achievements have been negligible. Yet, the team managed to win the 2009 CEMAC Cup and climbed up to a remarkable 49th place in the FIFA ranking in 2012.
Currently, the squad mainly consist of Europe-based players, such as Atlético Madrid’s Geoffrey Kondogbia, who is also the country’s captain.
THE SHIRT
When I found this shirt on French eBay, I was completely aware, that it must be some kind of fanshirt. The design, however, is pretty much identical to the actual design, the team wore in 2010. Like my white CAR shirt, it certainly is a fake Adidas template, but comes with a pretty convincing Adidas-hologram. It features the name and number of Eudes Dagoulou, called “Deco”, on the back and a R.C.A. (which stands for “République centrafricaine”) writing on the front. Instead of the FA badge, the country’s flag is applied to the chest.
Overall, the quality is pretty solid, and I actually wouldn’t be surprised, if this shirt was actually used for youth and/or friendly matches, although I wasn’t able to find any pictures.
I did, however, saw numerous people wearing it, in a VICE documentary about the civil war in the C.A.R. I attached a picture of a man wearing it, while watching a corpse being dragged over a street in Bangui.
