Rio de Janeiro – Bearing the slogan “Born to play soccer” and sporting sleeves with green stripes around the armholes, the Brazilian national soccer team’s new jersey will give a fresh look to the squad at the sport’s premier tournament this year in Germany.
Two new uniforms – the primary one with the traditional yellow shirt and baggy green shorts and the secondary one in blue and white – were presented at a special event here on Monday by the Brazilian Soccer Confederation, or CBF.
The sports equipment and clothing firm Nike has the exclusive contract to produce the uniforms.
Besides the small inscription “Born to play soccer” (in Portuguese) on the lower portion of the jersey’s front, the uniform also has five green stars – representing Brazil’s unique achievement of five World Cup victories – added inside the neckline.
The traditional green designs on the short sleeves of the yellow shirt have been replaced by a wavy green line around the lower edge of the sleeves, an addition inspired by the road that runs along Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, Brazil’s most famous tourist spot.
In the new uniform design, the CBF shield was retained on the left portion of the chest, but now it is framed by a lighter yellow area that helps to highlight it.
At the uniform presentation ceremony, organizers also set up an exhibit with historically important items from Brazilian soccer’s past, including examples of the uniforms used by the national team at all the World Cup tournaments.
National team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said at the ceremony that the new uniform was “the nicest ever because of its simplicity.”
The Brazilian squad will don the new uniform for the first time in a public match on March 1 when it faces off against Russia in Moscow in a friendly organized for the runup to the World Cup, set for June.
Nike said that the new jersey was manufactured with a technology that increases interior air flow to facilitate the evaporation of sweat.
