It has been clearly noted that the USA Men’s National Soccer Team will not be participating in this summer’s World Cup after failing to qualify for the first time since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
This however, did not stop Nike from releasing two new kits for the Men and Women to use in upcoming friendlies. Titled “Light” and “Dark”, the two kits both feature a similar fading horizontal stripe pattern, with the US Soccer crest on the left chest of the shirt.
LIGHT KIT
It’s hard to make a final decision before seeing them in a real game but my initial reaction is I really really really don’t like these. They aren’t horrendous, Nike just didn’t capture the design they were going for. I don’t mind the red fading to blue, I just wish the stripes continued and extended across the entire front of the jersey. The shorter stripes stop so abruptly and it seems so they could fit the number somewhere. I also prefer the number to be in the center of the jersey, but I do like the blue color selection for numbers and Nike logo. Also, a few pity points for the socks, those are sweet.
DARK KIT
WHY DIDN’T THEY EXTEND THE STRIPES?!?! I would absolutely love these if they would have continued the light blue stripes all the way across the jersey over the darker, navy blue base. It’s still hard to see on the dark kits, but I like the shoulder design that Nike has been implementing on a lot of their newer kits. The numbers on the front will be under the Nike symbol again, which leaves a lot of blank space on the rest of the jersey.
Overall, I would have been disappointed if Nike planned on using these had the men qualified for the World Cup. I don’t understand why they were so quick to move on from last year’s Gold Cup jerseys, which are my favorite US Soccer kits from recent memory.
The road to the 2022 World Cup has already begun and hopefully the United States have the opportunity to wear a couple better kits before that time comes, but we will be seeing the Light and Dark selections for awhile, at least until some more meaningful competitions come around (2019 Women’s World Cup).
The Expansion Team 