Sao Tome and Principe 2 & 3

 

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vs. Equatorial Guinea (1:3) | AFCON U23 Qualifier | 2018 in Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome and Principe is surely one of the least countries in Africa - and probably the world. Truth be told, that is an absolute shame, as you will figure that it is an absolute paradise, if you google it. It is not exactly easy to get there, but the Portuguese speaking island nation is a stunningly beautiful, peaceful and laid-back little country in the Gulf of Guinea that seems to be absolutely worth a holiday. Or migrating to.

When it comes to football, the country is not too bad, but not great either. Given the tiny population of just above 300,000, it is absolutely respectable that they can compete with some of the biggest African nations at times, such as a 0:1 loss to Ghana in 2019 or a 2:4 loss to South Africa in 2020. Yet, they are mostly losing. Indeed, they only beat Mauritius since 2016 - three times. Not terrible, but not great, really.

Shirtwise, Sao Tome and Principe used to be a holy grail of national team collectors. One of those shirts that are almost impossible to get. They were never marketed and the only way to get your hands on a shirt was knowing someone in the tiny island nation and convincing him or her to get you a matchworn shirt and send it to you. I did that, a few times, and wired thousands of Sao Tome Dobra (the local currency, not too much) to the islands to get shirts in the past. But that has changed around 2018. For a very short period of time EKIS, a small Portuguese brand, produced these stunning flag shirts and made them available. Unfortunately, they never sold those socks, though! Following that, Lacatoni, a much bigger Portuguese brand, took over the Sao Tome and Principe sponsoring and is now easily selling shirts in its online shop. 

This particular shirt was sorted out by Nick, if I recall correctly, who somehow got them from EKIS, even with a number print on it. They were about 50 Euro each, I think. Of course, I absolutely love them and, although I am not sure the full A national team ever wore them, I am endlessly greatful for Nick to sort these out! Thanks, mate!