Home 2001/02
Manufacturer: L-Sporto
Source: eBay
THE TEAM
Trinidad & Tobago’s national team is nicknamed “Soca warriors”. What looks like a dyslexic person attempting to spell “soccer”, is actually a reference to a Caribbean music genre of the same name.
Despite being a rather small island with a population of just 130,000, the “Trinis” were among the strongest teams of the CONCACAF and even managed to crack the top 25 in the FIFA ranking in 2001. Their biggest success was the qualification for the 2006 World Cup, where they finished last of their group, but achieved a respectable draw in their first game against Sweden.
In the following years, the team wasn’t able to build on this huge accomplishment. Yet, they’ve been a regular participant in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and remain record champion of the Caribbean Cup with eight titles to date.
THE SHIRT
Boasting a classic 90s/early 2000s design, Italian manufacturer L-Sporto's shirt is quite interesting. While the thick red and black stripes give the shirt a classic feel, the shirt is plastered with tags and labels on every imaginable spot: a “Soca Warriors” label on every sleeve, an L-Sporto label on the bottom – promoting L-Sporto’s engineering skills, as well as two tags on each side of the shirt, with one being an Italian flag – making it probably the only international shirt, that features the flag of another country.
In the center of the shirt is a weird semi-transparent “L-Sporto” logo which looks kind of battered, despite being in great condition. The shirt was worn during the qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup where Trinidad & Tobago finished last in their group.
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