tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81569928953432771822024-02-07T02:10:17.509-08:00mynationalteamcollectionDJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.comBlogger413125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-18751715522872626922019-02-08T01:43:00.001-08:002019-02-08T01:43:34.846-08:00Yugoslavia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With this Yugoslavia shirt, the Balkan should be covered, given that shorter lived countries as the Republic of Serbia Krajina never had time to found a national football team.<br />It also is a good leap forward in terms of completing ex-FIFA shirts. Just the two Germanys, which are super expensive, South Vietnam and South Yemen to go now, I believe. I never focused on getting those shirts, and probably they are nearly all impossible to ever get, but if you have a South Yemen shirt lying around at home, please let me know. Thanks!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-57679025095285189012019-02-08T01:32:00.000-08:002019-02-08T01:32:01.044-08:00Malta 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_94xZpnntTz_RP2qkvNY-ZZBOgzWAQqanet14Hz2O8zi3SbueQfRAymKd4CrLYzXs20iFbcvXKhyvXoKDT5sBkhXnTsy8BXR3CRl7i87NPkdWBLmXcw1taYjeoLG3mDygu_L9m_1Djc/s1600/vs+Portugal+%25280-4%2529%252C+WC+1994+qualifier%252C+1993+in+Italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="987" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_94xZpnntTz_RP2qkvNY-ZZBOgzWAQqanet14Hz2O8zi3SbueQfRAymKd4CrLYzXs20iFbcvXKhyvXoKDT5sBkhXnTsy8BXR3CRl7i87NPkdWBLmXcw1taYjeoLG3mDygu_L9m_1Djc/s320/vs+Portugal+%25280-4%2529%252C+WC+1994+qualifier%252C+1993+in+Italy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unknown Players<br />vs. Portugal (0:4) | World Cup 1994 qualifier | 1993 in Italy</td></tr>
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Malta shirts, for reasons I never quite understood, are largely available out there, usually super beautiful and, even when matchworn, don't break your bank. This one ticks all those boxes for sure. It is matchworn, it is from the early 90s and has a wonderful design we would now call "vintage" and it came for around 50€. Although I had a matchworn Malta shirt, I could thus naturally not resist and I am very happy I did not!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-42032440887511412332019-02-08T01:17:00.003-08:002019-02-08T01:17:54.994-08:00Panjab<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJWfsiOP1yZlhilWpcUnDlGX5xNgoZCLLpuzsXRLkSvuDrkwz9YaRZSTzAnHo_lLk-X_T5iPK1n5djK8WFZXqE1bzd5AubdFIduahCIZarq51ZxtKAUEHS4ZsvrVaeimPThz-nwlf28E/s1600/Panjab.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1074" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJWfsiOP1yZlhilWpcUnDlGX5xNgoZCLLpuzsXRLkSvuDrkwz9YaRZSTzAnHo_lLk-X_T5iPK1n5djK8WFZXqE1bzd5AubdFIduahCIZarq51ZxtKAUEHS4ZsvrVaeimPThz-nwlf28E/s400/Panjab.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unknown Player<br />vs. Sealand (4:1) | friendly 2014 in England</td></tr>
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Panjab is a region spanning across India and Pakistan and once was a powerful kingdom that influenced at least half of Asia. The name of the region is today usually written as "Punjab", which is the spelling the British colonizers preferred, as an English pronunciation of "Punjab" sounds more like what Panjab should be pronounced like. Originally, however, Panjab is derived from the two Persian words "panj" (=five) and "ab" (waters), describing the region as the land of the five streams. Understandably, the FA does prefer the traditional spelling and sticks to Panjab until today.<br />
That FA was actually found in England as a vehicle to bring the massive Panjabi community in the UK, Canada, all across Europe and the homelands in India and Pakistan together - on a footbal pitch. They grew significantly and do now regularly pick Pakistan national like goalkeeper Yussef Butt, who are very proudly representing their Panjabi heritage.<br />
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Before they grew, though, the FA president Harpreet Singh presented me this matchworn shirt as a gift, which I appreciate a lot. Although a very simple, and for me too simple, designed shirt, it is great to have a piece of history from the early days of the team. Given their much more sophisticated and beautiful current kits, I will, however, definitely try to get hold of one of those in the future. Thanks, Harpreet!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-49639408716140680742019-02-08T00:59:00.000-08:002019-02-08T00:59:46.678-08:00Uganda 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One more shirt that I own for ages, but never uploaded to this blog, as I was not too sure that it is legit. As I now went through all shirt with great care and checked their legitimacy as good as possible, I tend to believe that this one is legit, although I still struggle to find a match picture of it in use. Can you help?DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-26161588247577410132019-02-08T00:52:00.000-08:002019-02-08T00:52:22.299-08:00Zambia 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih38ycvuoXVpnFXJwPR9fl8W63etX-udj2s2Un4jZDNTZFNH8jUPrpsZE9guMvAfODvo2fe6Fh42jti1V9cBkiAK43fBId2zQu929EksWtebagxlp_MHIXpixeLczLt3s28cvMzCQjH4o/s1600/vs+Iran+%25284-2%2529%252C+friendly+match+2017+in+South+Korea%252C+player+Edward+Chilufya+%2528Mpande+Youth%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih38ycvuoXVpnFXJwPR9fl8W63etX-udj2s2Un4jZDNTZFNH8jUPrpsZE9guMvAfODvo2fe6Fh42jti1V9cBkiAK43fBId2zQu929EksWtebagxlp_MHIXpixeLczLt3s28cvMzCQjH4o/s320/vs+Iran+%25284-2%2529%252C+friendly+match+2017+in+South+Korea%252C+player+Edward+Chilufya+%2528Mpande+Youth%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edward Chilufya (Mpande Youth)<br />vs. Iran (4:2) | friendly 2017 in South Korea</td></tr>
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Briefly after I have taken my older Zambia shirt out to actual Zambia, having an amazing time in Livingstone, my mate Nick from Football Shirt World got in new Zambia shirts and offered them to me. When you have been to a country, you naturally feel affected to it a little bit, and so this was a bit of a soft spot to me and I had to take it.<br />
So here you are, the latest Mafro design for Zambia, a wonderful design, although I do not like how they print the front number over the colourful front pattern for matches. Thanks Nick!DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-35179535325683793012019-02-08T00:45:00.000-08:002019-02-08T00:45:10.989-08:00Vietnam 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZke75e366RMCg6UhtaZSw0L4Bu8eksLts8MZqttdKcRvVu0e60nuNKGHJKjCXDc_b805ghPCVnzSLfjpYGVGWusRYaWzUTBlw6cUO5t0QMeA03JqQRUq7EJMqFczimMet8d4sMIpiFsk/s1600/Vietnam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="468" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZke75e366RMCg6UhtaZSw0L4Bu8eksLts8MZqttdKcRvVu0e60nuNKGHJKjCXDc_b805ghPCVnzSLfjpYGVGWusRYaWzUTBlw6cUO5t0QMeA03JqQRUq7EJMqFczimMet8d4sMIpiFsk/s400/Vietnam.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duong Van Hao (Viettel FC)<br />vs. France (0:4) | U20 World Cup 2017 in South Korea</td></tr>
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Vietnam is surely a country on the rise when it comes to football, including their national team. For the first time ever, they could qualify for a Youth World Cup in 2017 and, shortly after, for the Asian Cup 2019. A huge factor to that recent success is a football sponsoring agency based in my home city Cologne. They have partnered with the Vietnam FA to up their game systematically and were able to realize coaching sessions and qualification courses for coaches and referees across the country. They have also helped building two football academies in Vietnam to find the best national talent.<br />
As a part of their involvment, the German globetrotter coach Hans-Jürgen Gede went to Vietnam as a Technical Director and attracted a team of German coaches to support him coaching the various age levels.<br />
I got in touch with Hans-Jürgen Gede around 2017 and exchanged some calls with him, mostly chatting about his time in Vietnam. He is an amazing human being and full of stories from around the world. When they qualified for the U17 World Cup in South Korea, Hans-Jürgen promised me to grab a shirt for me, bring it home and post it to me within Germany. As you can see - he delivered!<br />Thus, this is shirt is the player version of the U17 World Cup and comes with patches, but was not matchworn, as the name and number are not printed yet. As a little goodie, Hans-Jürgen even got it signed by the whole squad!<br />Thanks Hans-Jürgen, really appreciate, I love my new Vietnam shirt!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-45334959231818526352019-02-07T15:16:00.001-08:002019-02-07T15:16:48.711-08:00Kenya 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shirt presentation</td></tr>
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Finally a proper Kenya shirt. I was never fully sure that my old one is legit, as there are so many fakes around of those older ones. This one definitely is, as it came from Football Shirt World, who again got it straight from Mafro, the kit supplier.<br />Thanks Nick of Football Shirt World for sorting those out - I love the massive star, although I still wonder if it is a Ghana shirt until today.<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-71327026791151292852019-02-07T15:07:00.002-08:002019-02-07T15:07:21.447-08:00Saudi Arabia 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A bit of an odd one here again. I have this Saudi Arabai shirt for a while now already, but never uploaded it, as I struggled to find a match picture of it. Has anyone ever seen this in use? If so, please let me know and pop me the pic over, so I can properly blog it!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-43248402263942867872019-02-07T15:02:00.000-08:002019-02-07T15:02:25.782-08:00Yorkshire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi481roBwo1QthkrFGCNBxZ-pIaJGsh4d4uyzZ9grFTpNlaFY0Rl1sgFDOu9bbbztNbeh0AlpVF-rr6OVKfTgLD8y8K097yj605awjxW69VZqxhNomkBzTeXxanbGSziun8pdA1G9wJyT4/s1600/vs+Ellan+Vannin%252C+1-1+in+Yorkshire+2018%252C+player+Jordan+Coduri+%2528AFC+Penistone+Church%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="944" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi481roBwo1QthkrFGCNBxZ-pIaJGsh4d4uyzZ9grFTpNlaFY0Rl1sgFDOu9bbbztNbeh0AlpVF-rr6OVKfTgLD8y8K097yj605awjxW69VZqxhNomkBzTeXxanbGSziun8pdA1G9wJyT4/s320/vs+Ellan+Vannin%252C+1-1+in+Yorkshire+2018%252C+player+Jordan+Coduri+%2528AFC+Penistone+Church%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jordan Coduri (AFC Penistone Church)<br />vs. Ellan Vannin (1:1) | friendly 2018 in Yorkshire</td></tr>
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Meet Jordan Coduri, the man that wrote history by scoring the first ever international goal for his nation - which ultimately helped them to draw against Ellan Vannin. Jordan usually plays for AFC Penistone Church, which sounds far away from international football, and usually is, but on this day in 2018 he was in spotlight of the UK media. That is exactly the reason why I love CONIFA; average Joes becoming heroes in a few moments!<br />
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The Yorkshire team is one of the younger ones in CONIFA and they have yet to play a major tournament, even within CONIFA, but they have been incredibly busy and active within their short time of existence. Although a few keep questioning their eligibility or "reason to be a nation", I believe that a common feeling and identity is already a very strong reason to be just that - a nation.<br />
I was lucky enough to get this shirt, which I believe is a player version, but not matchworn, straight from GDZOWN, the shirt supplier of the team, which did an amazing job here. Thanks guys!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-5781890603397009202019-02-07T14:52:00.000-08:002019-02-07T14:52:06.365-08:00Western Sahara<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ObTP4aHh7M-5lXKHlB4BNuxoWLg2W2Lkp3lEXWA8JWQHghyds6GbGDkcFCuysAPT-1_HvSXwSLTg98YC7W1hzj7Zm0BKzepext8Ab8NU_exW04Eii7VQJBGEKAdjOR7fCbE0Htb6D94/s1600/Western+Sahara.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ObTP4aHh7M-5lXKHlB4BNuxoWLg2W2Lkp3lEXWA8JWQHghyds6GbGDkcFCuysAPT-1_HvSXwSLTg98YC7W1hzj7Zm0BKzepext8Ab8NU_exW04Eii7VQJBGEKAdjOR7fCbE0Htb6D94/s400/Western+Sahara.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Western Sahara is an odd place, even for odd places. It is an overwhelmingly unrecognized country, but, after Kosovo, is the second most recognized of such countries. On the other hand, it is the only of such countries that does not control the vast majority of its claimed territory, which is in fact controlled (or occupied) by Morocco. The government of the RASD (which is the Spanish short handle for Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) does in fact only control a small nearly depopulated strip of land, which mainly is host to military staff, and refugee camps in Algeria, where the actual Sahrawi population lives. Of course, this is all the result of a tragic, long-going and often very devastating history, but it is surely a very odd unique case in the world.<br />
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In said refugee camps, but also within the diaspora in Spain, the government of the RASD started to support football as a sport of choice about a decade ago. However, it took a while to really get off the ground. Now, as of today, the group is ready to play friendlies across Europe and most of Africa at any time, given their serious and professional management and their decent talent spread over two continents. I am very much looking forward to see the team in a big tournament soon, hopefully, and with this dress, which they just adopted, they will look great, too.<br />In case you wondered, by the way, this shirt was made by a Spanish company called Orlo Sport.DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-89013685865937784812019-02-07T14:38:00.001-08:002019-02-07T14:38:35.335-08:00Western Armenia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QLTWd6x1mAICFD6neo-X4BFmDl99Mw1C_nMhlUHEoADAHxkrzlVaXg6hbMo91Ni0zvLTvFa1duxNtU70NTGQWEs9syXPsUWnf1gDsCgKm8ucFFWqAfqHj81hgZiG-LrGDZAwdtxLguM/s1600/Western+Armenia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="960" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QLTWd6x1mAICFD6neo-X4BFmDl99Mw1C_nMhlUHEoADAHxkrzlVaXg6hbMo91Ni0zvLTvFa1duxNtU70NTGQWEs9syXPsUWnf1gDsCgKm8ucFFWqAfqHj81hgZiG-LrGDZAwdtxLguM/s400/Western+Armenia.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unknown Player<br />vs. Sapmi (0:3) | CONIFA World Football Cup 2016 in Abkhazia</td></tr>
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Western Armenia was, until now obviously, one of the few shirts of (active) CONIFA members I missed. That changed now, mostly thanks to Hiratch Yagan, a player from Servette Geneve, the manager of the Nagorno Karabakh national league and, on top of all that, the guy who manages most of Western Armenia activities. Hiratch did promise to deliver me a Western Armenia shirt for a longer while, but given his thousands of jobs, he understandably didn't make it for a while. Now, he finally did deliver and, to my delight, sent me a matchworn version of the rare black third shirt they rarely used. Thanks Hiratch!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-63546675186288517982019-02-07T14:22:00.001-08:002019-02-07T14:22:35.828-08:00Ukraine 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkpTg9V25_c_wH7s5T2YMfWv-rji2diL9xQjs4bVh7QmainKy5i41xWpeHiGzvVXyl5Mu4beJ4AOqJKiuKgyf8fwPK2053IWqbjNHWiZrx9DQrLj1LqANV7AsuHcjnssZ-gKIzYCry2k/s1600/Ukraine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="470" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkpTg9V25_c_wH7s5T2YMfWv-rji2diL9xQjs4bVh7QmainKy5i41xWpeHiGzvVXyl5Mu4beJ4AOqJKiuKgyf8fwPK2053IWqbjNHWiZrx9DQrLj1LqANV7AsuHcjnssZ-gKIzYCry2k/s400/Ukraine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artem Besyedin (Metalist Kharkiv)<br />vs. Myanmar | U20 World CUp 2015 in New Zealand</td></tr>
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Yip, this is a matchworn. Thus, one more UEFA member covered on the matchworn list.<br />It also is an amazing pinstrip design, a pattern that is used far too less these days in international football, in my opinion. Plus, blue and yellow remains my favorite combination of colours.<br />
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There is really not a hell of a lot I could write about Ukraine or this shirt. So I will close this by making you aware that I did one hour of research just to find this shirt in use in the most bizarre possible fixture.<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-53338828463091841192019-02-07T14:17:00.000-08:002019-02-07T14:17:02.849-08:00Uganda 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirkGQzSzwMTNZayy6UJnKmePJv-nbhStLB7xDeSKTtIrii8GNl6DeDUMJCC1UQGF2nZasuBWyG8P_ShmQsZd3mClwx2314WY3Jul0vq5_bMK7uc0TxCiWfLiP13ErzBIqoPHjp_j9X5gM/s1600/Uganda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="470" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirkGQzSzwMTNZayy6UJnKmePJv-nbhStLB7xDeSKTtIrii8GNl6DeDUMJCC1UQGF2nZasuBWyG8P_ShmQsZd3mClwx2314WY3Jul0vq5_bMK7uc0TxCiWfLiP13ErzBIqoPHjp_j9X5gM/s400/Uganda.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philip Obwiny (Express Red Eagles)<br />vs. Kenya (1:1) | Castle Cup 2001 in Kenya</td></tr>
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You wondered what the all time favorite of every national team shirt collector is? Well, a Vanuatu flag-style shirt and this mindblowing Uganda Cranes shirt. Just take a look at the picture from the match above for a few seconds. That poor Kenyan looks pathetic in his cheapish one-size-fits-all red jumper, while Mr. Obwiny just has class! You can see his joy of wearing this polyester masterpiece and to be fair - he is absolutely right feeling this way!<br />
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Uganda, as far as I am aware, used this shirt on in the 2001 Castle Cup, a four-nation tournament in Eastern Africa that is long gone. They remained unbeaten with it over 90 minutes, only losing to Kenya on penalties. That makes you wonder naturally: This is one of the best shirts that were ever design. It helped them to not concede a single goal while wearing it and thus is a great talisman. And then there is this trend of using all those old design currently. To sum it up:<br />DEAR HUMMEL - BRING BACK THIS SHIRT (if you want, call it "vintage tribute to 2001" as the others do) NOW!DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-40514202324785209852019-02-07T03:31:00.001-08:002019-02-07T03:31:46.550-08:00Tuvalu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unknown Player<br />vs. United Koreans (0:5) | CONIFA World Football Cup 2018 in London</td></tr>
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Tuvalu is one of only three UN member nations that made home in CONIFA (the others are Kiribati and Monaco), not FIFA, as they are constantly rejected membership by the latter for no particular reason. As the only of those three, they even made it to a World Football Cup, CONIFAs prime event, when they travelled all the way to London in 2018. That might well have been the farthest any team any traveled to play a World Cup in football history, as they literally live "on the other side" of the globe!<br />
Many expected Tuvalu do lose heavily and get devastated during the tournament, but in fact, the team was in great shape and condition and did much better than many expected. They beat the Chagos Islands 6-1 in a friendly that had to replace the planned match vs. Ellan Vannin, who left the tournament. They also were very close to beating Tamil Eelam, who scored two goals in overtime to get a 4:3 victory in the end. The other matches were lost, but except for a 0:8 against Padania were all not heavy losses, which is a success in itself. A good comparison is probably Tahiti, one of the strongest teams in the Pacific, who played the Confederations Cup in Brazil 2013 and ended their group stage with zero points and 1:24 goals. Tuvalu ended theirs at the CONIFA World Football Cup with zero points and 1:15 goals. You might argue that Spain, Uruguay and Nigeria (Tahitis opponent back then) are slightly better then Padania, Szekely Land and Matabeleland (Tuvalus opponents in London 2018), which is probably true. However, the gap is similar, I believe, given Tahiti is a local powerhouse and has a couple of full and semi-pros, while Tuvalus superstars are a guy famous for being the slowest 100m runner in the last Olympics and a player who played semi-pro football in New Zealand nearly a decade ago. Their opponents, except for Matabeleland, were nearly all paid for playing football and trained daily for years.<br />
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The shirt again is from Stingz and is match issued or a player shirt, whatever naming you prefer. It was given to me by the great guys from Stingz, who I can only thank for this one. I love it!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-4073044609046089282019-02-07T03:18:00.002-08:002019-02-07T03:18:39.606-08:00Senegal 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Papa Waigo (CFC Genoa | Italy)<br />vs. South Africa (1:1) | African Cup of Nations 2008 in Ghana</td></tr>
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A rather simple shirt with an amazing history, this is. Nearly a year ago, I had the brilliant idea to try getting in touch with all German coaches who have coached foreign national teams. Most of them were involved in the famous football coaching development program run by the German FA and Olympic Committee to educate coaches abroad. One of them was Peter Schnittger, who never became a huge coaching star, but definitely is an inspiring and absolutely outstanding character in world football. He coached Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Thailand Madagascar, Benin and Senegal between 1968 (!) and 2000, while running coaching courses across the respective country in the same time. After weeks of research, I was able to get hold of his postal address and send him a letter, congratulating him on his work and asking if he, by chance, has any shirts left from those days that he doesn't need anymore or, if he wants to keep them, if I can visit him to just take a brief look.<br />
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He did come back to me within days and absolutely loved my collection and was super happy to receive my thankful note. Sadly, he also mentioned that most of the shirts he had, including many from the 70s, were given to friends or "false friends" who knocked them off for profit, over all those years. He was nearly apologetic for this, which of course he doesn't have to be. I was just glad to hear of him. He later send me the only shirt he has left from Senegal, and a huge collection of newspaper articles, pictures and more of his time in Africa. Absolutely amazing stuff, really!<br />
Just as a side note and to give you an idea of his affection for Africa: he and his wife still spend half the year in Senegal, which got his second home nation by now!<br />
Thanks, Peter, I love the shirt a lot!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-74332622046852533332019-02-07T03:04:00.002-08:002019-02-07T03:04:47.776-08:00Scotland 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-p4Kg7wCMjfcAkN8O9_oh_i6XHfGM9t2jqB6JE2_u8NDWccghB03xZ7JgAAI4GqfmrEnVemluCWBEJ5m4JIGiYKElcbd3WgEkT-99rsUXG8cWWvw3ZGOjH2JxPWlkf3xZMABOR3_mCY/s1600/Scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-p4Kg7wCMjfcAkN8O9_oh_i6XHfGM9t2jqB6JE2_u8NDWccghB03xZ7JgAAI4GqfmrEnVemluCWBEJ5m4JIGiYKElcbd3WgEkT-99rsUXG8cWWvw3ZGOjH2JxPWlkf3xZMABOR3_mCY/s400/Scotland.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Weir (FC Everton | England)<br />vs. Belgium (0:2) | World Cup 2002 qualifier | 2001 in Belgium</td></tr>
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Hands down, Scotland has one of the most beautiful shirts in UEFA for decades! Sadly, this is the exception! Thanks for nothing, Fila! However, it is my first match worn Scotland shirt and I believe it is the first FILA shirt in my collection, so two great reasons to get hold of this one. It cost me around 40€ only, too, when I bought it from a quite famous collector and owner of a small museum in Odessa, Ukraine. Thanks to him for this shirt -while not be most beautiful, surely a more than welcome addition to the collection!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-34661531042600721242019-02-07T02:58:00.000-08:002019-02-07T02:58:01.192-08:00Sardinia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihadfyNGenZVU0us30aKkwox_cAQhwDNHsAg9dv62ZkVGwXxiMy7xdq1OukKFM_WB5ahXpgCL00n1H-pX0pGRT4KhOFkaIjDNi4IeFMdJ74uaBGCeATd5SMXGKWJe-1xAFzOjtuLB5VSQ/s1600/Sardinia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihadfyNGenZVU0us30aKkwox_cAQhwDNHsAg9dv62ZkVGwXxiMy7xdq1OukKFM_WB5ahXpgCL00n1H-pX0pGRT4KhOFkaIjDNi4IeFMdJ74uaBGCeATd5SMXGKWJe-1xAFzOjtuLB5VSQ/s400/Sardinia.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shirt presentation</td></tr>
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Sardinia is one of the newest members in CONIFA and, so far, did not have a full international match and thus no match pictures exist, yet. That will change soon, when Sardinia is due to meet Corsica in a friendly match soon. More matches will follow in June 2019, when the team will play at CONIFAs European Football Cup in Artsakh, formerly known as Nagorno Karabakh.<br />
The FA did attend the Annual General Meeting of CONIFA lately, in January 2019, where the delegation kindly brought a shirt to present it to me for this very collection.<br />
I am over the moon that Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean, joined CONIFA and I am super happy hat I received their shirt so early on. I cannot wait to see it in a match now!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-57197507551856370492019-02-07T02:15:00.002-08:002019-02-07T02:49:29.676-08:00Pohnpei<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUu_8jvj95xqTSxwJ2gbuuG1h6lt_KT_BEleTAoZ41Gvbt_cwdUKgR9Ibkf04cBv0iYc0wxKjjr_EUz68xHD3f-dmgoiBHik3h6GG92xUazJYkjcntKpNifHEhI9YIXlaKYjtwK_nD0g/s1600/Pohnpei+training+session.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUu_8jvj95xqTSxwJ2gbuuG1h6lt_KT_BEleTAoZ41Gvbt_cwdUKgR9Ibkf04cBv0iYc0wxKjjr_EUz68xHD3f-dmgoiBHik3h6GG92xUazJYkjcntKpNifHEhI9YIXlaKYjtwK_nD0g/s320/Pohnpei+training+session.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training Session in Pohnpei</td></tr>
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This is a very special piece of polyester to me, but collection-wise, also a very questionable one. Let's start with "who the hell is Pohnpei" and why it is special to me:<br />
Pohnpei is one of the States of the Federated States of Micronesia, so a small little atoll in the Pacific inhabited by less than 40.000 people. It also was largely known as the worst national team in the world across global media. The source of that infamous label is probably the old Elo ranking that floated around in the internet and ranked all national teams, FIFA and non-FIFA.<br />
So why is it special? Well, triggered by the title of the worst team around, Paul Watson from England thought this is probably the only place he could earn a cap as a national team player. To cut the story short, he did not, but he became their national team coach, lived on the island for half a year or so, trained on toad infested pitches in constant rain and ultimately brought the team to Guam and got the first ever national team victory to Pohnpei. That incredibly story is all written down in the bestseller "Up Pohnpei", arguably one of the best football or adventure books I have ever read.<br />
(to be fair, I am biased. Since 2017, I am working together with Paul in CONIFA and especially after the rollercoaster of the World Football Cup 2018, I consider him as one of my best friends. Nevertheless: READ THE BOOK!).<br />
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Now we come to the part why this shirt is dodgy.First of all, it seems impossible to get it and even Paul Watson doesn't have one. They did indeed wear this design for ages, but on all pictures I find, from trainings and matches, they have only numbers, but no names on the back. They might have changed that for the Guam tour, arguably the greatest event the team had, but at that Guam tour the shirts were sponsored by "Coyne Airline", so this one cannot be from that batch. Finally, I bought this shirt on German ebay from a dude who is claiming that he was there on vacation. That seemed kind of reasonable to me at first sight, as no one else would just trade Pohnpei shirts on only the German market. However, the same bloke later offered a Tonga shirt, which I could proof was definitely fake, and he claimed was from a trip to Tonga. Thus, I have my doubts about this one. Either it was self-made from a template or it is indeed a matchworn kit from Pohnpei - who knows!<br />
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UPDATE: I have just double checked with Paul, who told me:<br />"<span class="_5yl5"><span>I can help! We had a batch of plain Adidas shirts for training and I got names put on the back to make them feel special. Then when Coyne sponsored us we had to get new ones for the Guam tour. So this shirt would be worn against Island All Stars and such"</span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5"><span><span class="_5yl5"><span>Even better, I could find a video of that
match vs. the Islands, in which you can see the former owner of this
shirt (J.Welson) scoring:</span></span> </span></span><br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Mal1GHCdzi0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mal1GHCdzi0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<span class="_5yl5"><span><br /></span></span>DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-42472879967283492662019-02-07T01:51:00.001-08:002019-02-07T01:51:37.918-08:00Pakistan 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEX71qHFoXhNhQNoCd56fqxLioLaEi9GzIYQqHgPPeV6u1V8LRCvuaCChMEVbXjA9ueq9woSrrNRZuSZA651Ch3nhDu8FIo8abfgjDj1TS0TlIpjWGtGyVE09FWg7pdK5N33FsluQHks/s1600/Pakistan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="470" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEX71qHFoXhNhQNoCd56fqxLioLaEi9GzIYQqHgPPeV6u1V8LRCvuaCChMEVbXjA9ueq9woSrrNRZuSZA651Ch3nhDu8FIo8abfgjDj1TS0TlIpjWGtGyVE09FWg7pdK5N33FsluQHks/s400/Pakistan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muhammad Ali (Greve Fodbold | Denmark)<br />vs. Nepal (2:1) | SAFF Cup 2018 in Bangladesh</td></tr>
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Another Pakistan, another Joshila and another bit of the general confusion about the home/away/third defintion. Thus, not much to add here.<br />
However, I would like to ask my dear readers, if they have any clue, why four members of the Pakistani national team plays at Greve Fodbold, a small Danish second division club. Any ideas? <br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-5166735255392176822019-02-07T01:47:00.002-08:002019-02-07T01:47:33.780-08:00Pakistan 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8f2KlPx5w7nl5IF6BOsalIVFEOK5nzjW6hn_EYtuZFp88ZCi3hsAKSLjm8ap0eDkN8KiHxdsc0QqmD2sQkZpuKeWqxe-VGdobx6mfrXlxJQMdllnbwbB0G1GZQemK1rMBOUpHLG1bNTg/s1600/Pakistan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="470" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8f2KlPx5w7nl5IF6BOsalIVFEOK5nzjW6hn_EYtuZFp88ZCi3hsAKSLjm8ap0eDkN8KiHxdsc0QqmD2sQkZpuKeWqxe-VGdobx6mfrXlxJQMdllnbwbB0G1GZQemK1rMBOUpHLG1bNTg/s400/Pakistan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vs. Palestine (1:2) | friendly 2018 in Palestine</td></tr>
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Pakistan might well be one of the most chaotic football nations out there. The national Football Association was banned from FIFA for government interference from 2017 to March 2018, which left the national team without any football for over 3 years in total. Ever since, the FA is suffering from corruption, a lack of friendly match opponents and plenty of more small or big issues.<br />The fifth most populous country on earth thus struggles a lot to provide a proper football system to its people.<br />
The chaos around Pakistani football not only hindered the team to develop further, it also brought chaos regarding their football shirts with them. Officially, they presented this green shirt as their home shirt. However, they then always used for warm up only and in just a single match - a friendly vs. Palestine 2018, which was played behind closed doors. In one more match, they used the shorts of this design, but combined it with a white shirt. All confusing and given they wore three different colour in their last three matches, all of which were away, it is safe to say that no one can say what is their home, away or third kit.<br />
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What is beyond doubt, though, is the legitimacy of this shirt. It came again through Football Shirt World of my mate Nick and he sourced it straight from the manufacturer Joshila, which is based in the UK. Naturally, I am most pleased that with Joshila a new manufacturer made it to my collection! :) <br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-53278481056700480752019-02-06T15:37:00.001-08:002019-02-06T15:37:37.734-08:00Matabeleland 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQPx9AzKx_JnabPeMefoPbo8QdQ8cyVv9X2WCUFOCyvRIXF3iFm3dV4xNi21shMOP9NErCdaE70twqLWPlJCrVJvCw7ygX34-fnoLtcs8m368P-o2Z_uVITfnzM5hN_CcaZbcjXRYG2o/s1600/Matabeleland.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="715" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQPx9AzKx_JnabPeMefoPbo8QdQ8cyVv9X2WCUFOCyvRIXF3iFm3dV4xNi21shMOP9NErCdaE70twqLWPlJCrVJvCw7ygX34-fnoLtcs8m368P-o2Z_uVITfnzM5hN_CcaZbcjXRYG2o/s400/Matabeleland.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unknown Player<br />vs. Szekely Land (0:5) | CONIFA World Football Cup 2018 in London</td></tr>
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Like the matchworn Matabeleland I have just posted, I got this as a gift from the team. The design was created by Paddy Power, who looked online for proposals of fan. This was the well-deserved winner of the contest, an absolutely outstanding design! <br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-76549227115589792152019-02-06T15:35:00.000-08:002019-02-06T15:35:14.775-08:00Matabeleland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During training in Bulawayo</td></tr>
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Matabeleland is a team, a region and a nation I could write about a for hours, to be honest. But let me try to break it down:<br />
A gentleman called Busani got in touch with me around 2016, as he was keen to learn more about CONIFA and how to join it. Shortly after, in 2017, I had a conference in Zambia and took the opportunity to meet Matabeleland on the ground and get a deeper understanding of the region, Busani, his management team and the actual football on the ground. This trip was absolutely mindblowing and the people involved in the football team were absolutely inspiring. Matabeleland and its capital Bulawayo are one of the poorest parts of the regions, but the positivity, energy and love for the beautiful game I have experienced over there was unrivalled ever since.<br />
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Futher down the road, when British coach Justin Walley was considering going on an adventure somewhere, I immediately proposed Matabeleland. Not because it was easy or straightforward. But because it was a massive task to raise funds for the team to make it to the CONIFA World Cup in London and get the team in shape to compete with semi- and full-pros, but Iwas sure that mental environment was just great and very uplifting. Believe it or not, he went and he succeded. Matabeleland got one of the favorite teams of all spectators at the World Cup in London and got on the front page of the media across the world. They just won London over with their passion!<br />
I am grateful for every second I spend with the team and I hope there will be millions of more of common moments!<br />
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During the World Football Cup in London, the team then gave me this matchworn shirt from their qualifier matchs, which they mostly played in their local neighborhood, but also in Zambia. Thanks Busani!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-12170812676548742252019-02-06T02:33:00.002-08:002019-02-06T02:33:36.279-08:00Mauritius<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin (AS Blainville | Canada)<br />vs. Lesotho (0:3) | COSAFA Cup 2016 in Namibia</td></tr>
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For you, Mauritius might be a tropical paradise and the ultimate honeymoon destination. For me, it was the absolute nightmare for years now! When I just started to collect national team shirts, I got in touch with the Mauritius FA, who kindly responded immediately. I drove 6 hours to Frankfurt to meet their FA general secretary at a FIFA conference and pick up a shirt. He gave me two fakes and a postcard. I am thankful, don't get me wrong. He was a great gentleman and ultimately, he bothered to bring anything. I still have his postcard on my wall, too. However, thatboth shirts were cheapish fakes obviously disappointed me a bit.<br />
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I tried to follow up with him, but he never again answered to any emails. I have written to all members of the FA technical staff, none of them ever replied. I have written to 15+ players and none of them wanted or could help me out with a shirt. I contacted the Mauritius embassy in Germany and the German embassy in Mauritius. I have contacted every journalist in Mauritius who ever wrote about the national football team. I literally tried it all!<br />
Then, in summer 2018, I again went through all the squads of the teams I missing and realized that one of the Mauritius players lived in Brussels. I again tried to get in touch and - BINGO! He was very friendly, was happy to help and get me a shirt for the collection. It took a while until he had his next fixture, but he did then bring a shirt with him to Brussels and got back in touch. I bought it for about 80€ of him and there was only one issue left: He was not happy to post it internationally to me. As I was too busy to drive to Brussels for the shirt over the next few weeks and totally was unwilling to wait any longer and risk losing out in the end, I contacted a journalist from Brussels, who interviewed me a few weeks before during the World Football Cup of CONIFA in London.<br />Funny enough, he had just finished a longread on foreign national team players based in London and did also interview this very player! He called him up, scheduled a meeting and picked up the shirt - before posting it to me. So, I owe endless gratitude to both, the player and my journalist mate in Brussels! Merci!<br />
<span id="goog_890926394"></span><span id="goog_890926395"></span><br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-60240122577308838912019-02-06T02:14:00.002-08:002019-02-06T02:14:59.794-08:00Mali 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fernand Coulibaly (Al-Wahda FC | Saudi Arabia)<br />vs. Zambia (0:4) | African Cup 1994 in Tunisia</td></tr>
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Abdoul Karim Sidibe is one of the many international football players that are largely, and nearly completely, forgotten by the world. He is one of the few international football players who do not have an own Wikipedia page and it was impossible for me to find out anything about his career. All I know is that he used to play for the Malian side of Djoliba AC and was picked for the African Cup of Nations 1994 in Tunisia. Now, however, AK Sidibe may not longer be forgotten. I am more than happy to give him at least one place in the internet where is name remains. So, dear google: ABDOUL KARIM SIDIBE!<br />
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This shirt was indeed matchworn by Mr. Sidibe, probably during the said African Cup of Nations. I got my hands on this shirt through a German who used to work at the AFCON tournaments as a journalist for ages, including the Tunisia edition in 1994. He somehow kept this shirt all those year and finally sold it to me for not more than 80€ - what a bargain for probably the oldest African matchworn shirt in my collection!<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156992895343277182.post-32112679688432342672019-02-06T02:05:00.001-08:002019-02-06T02:05:28.452-08:00Latvia 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwYnbX5glYcuKcA5eMxAkwbXm94_7Mo-e_ZMv7vu7Dq-G4a4X5U4bA_EaMuR41OgfNx7enuL2XTfEjm-rHvsQ8q0xajtn09ZjywyBAdia94uoTXjJOOPAdGf1oRyUo7zcpnM8voXaqIo/s1600/vs+Netherlands%252C+0-6%252C+Euro+2016+qualifiers%252C+2014+in+Netherlands%252C+player+Eduards+Visnakovs+%2528Ruch+Chorzow%252C+Poland%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="800" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwYnbX5glYcuKcA5eMxAkwbXm94_7Mo-e_ZMv7vu7Dq-G4a4X5U4bA_EaMuR41OgfNx7enuL2XTfEjm-rHvsQ8q0xajtn09ZjywyBAdia94uoTXjJOOPAdGf1oRyUo7zcpnM8voXaqIo/s320/vs+Netherlands%252C+0-6%252C+Euro+2016+qualifiers%252C+2014+in+Netherlands%252C+player+Eduards+Visnakovs+%2528Ruch+Chorzow%252C+Poland%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eduard Visnakovs (Ruch Chorzow | Poland)<br />vs. Netherlands (0:6) | Euro 2016 qualifiers | 2014 in Netherlands</td></tr>
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What can I say? As with so many other countries in this blog, I had the chance to get a matchworn shirt to replace my replica and I took it. It is not the most amazing shirt in the world and neither do I have any special relation to Latvia, nor can I claim to be a long-term supporter or just follower of their national team. However, it is always good to get another matchworn in the collection and Latvia can officially be considered done by this! My thanks, again, go to my mate in Baku, who helped getting this through the Azeri FA.<br />
<br />DJLieselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15885433767008734667noreply@blogger.com0