Home 2005
Manufacturer: Reebok
Source: eBay
THE TEAM
The small Southern African nation that recently changed its name from “Swaziland” to “eSwatini” is one of the five remaining absolute monarchies on our planet. While King Mswati III with his (at least) 23 children (from 15 wives) would be able to field an entire national team plus substitute players and could still have some of them cheer for his family squad, eSwatini’s international team, surprisingly, solely consists of players unrelated to his royal highness.
Unsurprisingly, however, is the lack of global success that the Swati team can exhibit: a bronze medal from the 2018 COSAFA cup, so far, is the only piece of precious metal that hangs inside of eSwatini’s hall of fame.
THE SHIRT
eSwatini/Swaziland jerseys are rather difficult to obtain. Aside from two 2005 Reebok designs, none of them was ever made available as a replica, although I have to thank a friendly FA employee for an unused Adidas design has made its way into my collection via detours.
The most “common” model in people’s collection is the Reebok design you are currently looking at. Vibrant primary colors and a centered badge are reminiscent of Reebok’s old Andorra shirts. The blue model also features a tiny, embroidered sponsor logo from South African telecommunications company MTN.
Unfortunately, there is no real evidence that the blue model has ever been used, whereas the team wore the white away shirt (sans sponsor) during the 2005 COSAFA Cup in a game against Zambia.
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