Goalkeeper 2018/19
Manufacturer: Adidas
Source: Feguifut outfitter
THE COUNTRY
Have you ever dreamed of getting executed in a football stadium by Equatoguinean soldiers dressed as Santa Claus while Mary Hopkin’s cheerful little ditty “Those Were the Days” blasted through the stadium speakers? If so, you should either immediately questions your drug habits or you spent Christmas Eve of 1969 in Equatorial Guinea.
While the country’s current president Teodoro Obiang can hardly be considered a philanthropist or even a democrat, his uncle and predecessor Francisco Macías Nguema can hardly even be considered sane in any way.
When the country you are ruling is nicknamed “The Dachau of Africa”, clearly, things aren’t going swimmingly.
Do you have bad eyesight and need glasses? - Well, tough luck, you’re getting shot in the face!
You consider yourself an intellectual? – Chances are good you’ll be listening to “Those Were the Days” in a football stadium soon.
Fast forward some thirty years, things have gotten better in the little country that bears its geographical located in its name – well, for the rich people, that is…
Despite having become one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producers and being the richest country per capita in Africa, the accompanying wealth is distributed extremely unevenly. Consequently, Equatorial Guinea only ranks 144th on the 2019 Human Development Index,[13] with less than half the population having access to clean drinking water.
THE TEAM
The “Nzaland Nacional” (National Thunder) as the national team is called, is somewhat of a posterchild of the country. While the women’s national team has been very successful in the past (two African championships and an appearance at the 2012 Women’s World Cup), the male team has not achieved the same successes so far.
Being the (co-)host of two African Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2015 (“thanks” to the ebola epidemic), the Equatoguinean team had their greatest success, when they advanced to the semi-finals in 2015, albeit due to questionable questionable refereeing decisions.
THE SHIRT
This and many other of my Equatorial Guinea shirts come from president Obiang’s personal outfitter! Yes, I randomly came in contact with the woman that makes the presidential attire and also happened to be responsible for the Nzalang Nacional’s football kits (at least until the federation made a deal with new manufacturer Erreà).
Based in Spain, she ordered jerseys from Adidas (in case of the female national team even bespoke designs) and refined them with some fantastic embroidery and custom typefaces for the names and numbers.
At first glance, the jersey can be dismissed as a plain Adidas template with a badge. On second sight, however, this shirt is a prime example of how a seemingly “boring” shirt can be vastly improved by some nice details.
Despite being a fairly simple design, the Adidas “Tabela 18” template features some nice pinstripes that give the shirt a classy look. The quality of the embroidery is top-notch and besides the detailed FEGUIFUT badge, there is a tiny flag of the country with the words “Orgullo Nacional” (national pride).
This blue design was used as a goalkeeper shirt on several occasions.
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