Soccer and non-traditional colors

[totc]

We've all had the discussions about how, especially in soccer, non-national flag colors are used routinely.

Germany: Green to honor Ireland, the first team to play them after World War II

Holland: Orange, for the House of Oranje

Italy: Blue, for their royal house (name of which I don't remember)

Australia: Green and gold

England: Yellow in 1976 Bicentennial Cup

India: Carolina blue

Venezuela: Maroon (oil is the biggest export)

Paraguay: Copper (its biggest export)

I've also seen Spain in both black and royal purple, Uruguay in red (not in the national flag), Canada in black, Germany in red, black, and slate gray, Holland in navy, and Portugal in black.

Which begs the question: why in the name of Pele is the United States wearing black in world cup qualifiers until 2009? Isn't it the absolute worst color to wear in day games in Central America? Sure, American teams have worn gold (1980 speed-skating team, 2007 women's world cup), light blue (pre-1964 field hockey, 1995 alternate soccer), and even orange and silver (1994 speed-skating team). But black? Are we going gangsta?

[Sodboy13]

You notice all the traditional, historical reasons for the non-standard colors by other nations? Well, here's the reason the U.S. is going with black:

Black sells.

[gordie_delini]

its not black - its a very very dark navy blue. in the color corrected Nike image, it appears black, but I assure it's not.

[officeglenn]

You notice all the traditional, historical reasons for the non-standard colors by other nations? Well, here's the reason the U.S. is going with black:

Black sells.

That's the reason Canada has worn black in the past few years, both in hockey and in soccer.

[-kj]

Y'know, on the US Soccer website, I swear it looks like the Jays' "graphite."

[Gothamite]

Sure does.

[GFB]

Looks blue to me....

[GFB]

but now that I look at it.... why is there a V-neck and not a circle collar? Looks like a photoshopped home kit.

[Bouj]

Isn't the whole thing kind of moot anyway, since they wear the white kit most of the time? I seem to remember most of the Central American countries wearing colored kits (except for Guatemala and Honduras, maybe), and the US usually wore white in qualifying the last go around.

It's not like in baseball, where you HAVE to wear the away kits for away games. They just have to wear something that doesn't clash with the home side's first choice.

[Gothamite]

Looks blue to me....

In that Photoshopped pic, sure.

But look at this, from the US Soccer store:

Looks gray to me, especially compared to the navy in the crest.

[SCL]

Looks blue to me....

In that Photoshopped pic, sure.

But look at this, from the US Soccer store:

Looks gray to me, especially compared to the navy in the crest.

Gray it is link: http://ussoccerstore.com/us00m11110810.html

[totc]

Isn't the whole thing kind of moot anyway, since they wear the white kit most of the time? I seem to remember most of the Central American countries wearing colored kits (except for Guatemala and Honduras, maybe), and the US usually wore white in qualifying the last go around.

It's not like in baseball, where you HAVE to wear the away kits for away games. They just have to wear something that doesn't clash with the home side's first choice.

Yeah, but in the heat of Panama City, Kingston, Mexico City, Mazatenango, Saprissa, Edmonton, San Pedro Sula, and Port of Spain -- a Murderers' Row of opposing stadia -- you don't want to wear black. Seriously. It's not as though we can make our opposition play in Fairbanks ...

[Bouj]

Isn't the whole thing kind of moot anyway, since they wear the white kit most of the time? I seem to remember most of the Central American countries wearing colored kits (except for Guatemala and Honduras, maybe), and the US usually wore white in qualifying the last go around.

It's not like in baseball, where you HAVE to wear the away kits for away games. They just have to wear something that doesn't clash with the home side's first choice.

Yeah, but in the heat of Panama City, Kingston, Mexico City, Mazatenango, Saprissa, Edmonton, San Pedro Sula, and Port of Spain -- a Murderers' Row of opposing stadia -- you don't want to wear black. Seriously. It's not as though we can make our opposition play in Fairbanks ...

You're right, black is a bad choice in that climate, but they probably won't even be wearing the black kit for most of those matches. They'll probably wear the whites in Panama City, Kingston, Mexico City, Saprissa, Edmonton, San Pedro Sula, and Port of Spain. All those teams wear a colored kit. Only Guatemala wears white as their first choice. Most of those teams aren't going to care enough to switch so that the US has to wear black. For them, the home kits transcend identity. It would be akin to the Cowboys wearing the unlucky blue jerseys (not the throwbacks) at home just to make the Seahawks wear their unlucky all-white uniforms (well, kind of unlucky).

[andregunts]

also, Holland wore black as alternate during the Nike Total 90 era

[TFoA]

First it was black, then it was blue, now it's gray?

If I knew for an absolute fact that it was blue...then I'd definitely get one of those, because that jersey in blue is sweet. Black = lame, and gray = super lame.

[totc]

You're right, black is a bad choice in that climate, but they probably won't even be wearing the black kit for most of those matches. They'll probably wear the whites in Panama City, Kingston, Mexico City ....

Tweet!

[totc]

On another note: WTF is Turkey doing wearing light blue?

[Mingjai]

Anyone see the match? With the US winning 3-0 in Poland, "anthracite" (per the other topic) unfortunately might be the new black for the USMNT.

[YELDARBfield]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Anthracite!

From Wikipedia:

Anthracite (Greek Ανθρακίτης, literally "a form of coal", from Anthrax [Άνθραξ], coal) is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high lustre. It has the highest carbon count and contains the fewest impurities of all coals, despite its lower calorific content.

Anthracite coal is the highest of the metamorphic rank, in which the carbon content is between 92% and 98%.[1] The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapours when heated below their point of ignition. Anthracite ignites with difficulty and burns with a short, blue, and smokeless flame.

Other terms which refer to anthracite are blue coal, hard coal, stone coal (not to be confused with the German Steinkohle or Dutch steenkool which are broader terms meaning all varieties of coal of a stone-like hardness and appearance, like bituminous coal and often anthracite as well, as opposed to Lignite, which is softer), blind coal (in Scotland), Kilkenny coal (in Ireland), crow coal (or craw coal from its shiny black appearance), and black diamond ("Blue Coal" is the term for a once-popular, specific, trademarked brand of anthracite coal, mined by the Glen Alden Coal Company in Pennsylvania, and sprayed with a blue dye at the mine before shipping to its Northeastern U.S.A. markets to distinguish it from its competitors). The imperfect anthracite of north Devon and north Cornwall (around Bude) in England, which is used as a pigment, is known as culm. Culm is also the term used in geological classification to distinguish the strata in which it is found and similar strata in the Rhenish hill countries are known as the Culm Measures. In America, culm is used as an equivalent for waste or slack in anthracite mining.

[docbrass]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Anthracite!

From Wikipedia:

Anthracite (Greek Ανθρακίτης, literally "a form of coal", from Anthrax [Άνθραξ], coal) is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high lustre. It has the highest carbon count and contains the fewest impurities of all coals, despite its lower calorific content.

Anthracite coal is the highest of the metamorphic rank, in which the carbon content is between 92% and 98%.[1] The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapours when heated below their point of ignition. Anthracite ignites with difficulty and burns with a short, blue, and smokeless flame.

Other terms which refer to anthracite are blue coal, hard coal, stone coal (not to be confused with the German Steinkohle or Dutch steenkool which are broader terms meaning all varieties of coal of a stone-like hardness and appearance, like bituminous coal and often anthracite as well, as opposed to Lignite, which is softer), blind coal (in Scotland), Kilkenny coal (in Ireland), crow coal (or craw coal from its shiny black appearance), and black diamond ("Blue Coal" is the term for a once-popular, specific, trademarked brand of anthracite coal, mined by the Glen Alden Coal Company in Pennsylvania, and sprayed with a blue dye at the mine before shipping to its Northeastern U.S.A. markets to distinguish it from its competitors). The imperfect anthracite of north Devon and north Cornwall (around Bude) in England, which is used as a pigment, is known as culm. Culm is also the term used in geological classification to distinguish the strata in which it is found and similar strata in the Rhenish hill countries are known as the Culm Measures. In America, culm is used as an equivalent for waste or slack in anthracite mining.

is this a new Nike color??