ADIDAS LAUNCHES BAFANA BAFANA AWAY JERSEY
Adidas today launched the South African national football team’s away jersey which they will wear during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa.
“The new away kit, which features a unique new mixture of Twilight and Forrest Green will further identify the hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Like the current yellow home jersey, this green jersey is without doubt one of the most important and iconic that adidas, as the National team’s official technical sponsor has ever designed,” says Zobuzwe Ngobese, the PR Manager at adidas South Africa
The green away jersey design was also influenced by the diversity of our country and its 11 main communities and languages spoken – all of which will be unified behind our country and team during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The jersey incorporates 11 threads that symbolise this diversity in unity and modern interpretations of traditional South African artwork. It celebrates the pride of our host nation by displaying the centre of the national flag on its front.
The jersey design was also completed with African art print on the collar in order to be consistent with the home jersey.
“We are excited about the final product that adidas has delivered to us following numerous consultations about the design of the jersey. The design of the change strip is consistent with the one seen on the home jersey. Our team now has a complete set of home and away jerseys and we will use both strips with pride during the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™,” says Leslie Sedibe, the chief executive officer of SAFA.
The jersey will be worn for the first time when Bafana Bafana plays Namibia at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban this evening.
ADIDAS’ UMU CAMPAIGN GETS THE PRESIDENTIAL SIGNATURE
Bafana Bafana hosted Japan in the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on the 14th of November but it was the current president, Jacob Zuma who held the spotlight. Adidas’ UMU campaign which features a giant replica shirt was boosted when Zuma added his signature to it in a show of support.
He was also handed a replica shirt to wear, complete with ‘Zuma’ and the number ‘1′ on the back.
Read more about Adidas’ Unite Mzansi Unite (UMU) campaign here:
Read more about my experience at the jersey launch and the first ever signing here:
ADIDAS MAKE SOME MAGIC
As I prepare to return home after more than a week of travel, I stopped to think back to all that I have seen and learnt in the last couple of days.
I have met people from the biggest brands and media companies, I have spent time with businessmen and web gurus but the thing that sparked off the trip in the first place was one of the biggest highlights. My first port of call: Adidas’ launch of the new Bafana home jersey.
I love jerseys. Every year there are new jerseys released; home, away and third kits. A lot of clubs have worked it so that they release a new jersey every year. One year a home, and the next an away. For me it’s as much fun as watching the transfer market. As the release date nears, photos are sneaked out giving you a sniff at what the shirt will look like. Posters and ad campaigns start filtering out into the new media segment.
And then comes launch day! Those who aren’t invited to the launch or who live in another country, wait expectantly for a site to post pictures of the latest addition to the apparel market.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch of the Bafana jersey in Johannesburg, South Africa last week.
The venue was an old theatre, tucked away in a square filled with hawkers (people selling things on the street; cheap knock-offs etc).
There was such an atmosphere!
Upon arrival at the entrance, I was greeted by a massive Adidas branded truck. I figured it was just advertising or something. It wasn’t, but I’ll get back to the truck later.
A swarming foyer of media personnel and soccer celebrities was the next stop. My name was finally found and I received my bright yellow pass.
After grabbing a free bottled water, (who grabs free water! Take the Coke man!) I headed for my seat in the auditorium.
It was a beautiful old theatre, complete with a balcony. My seat was in the middle section and while I sat, waiting, my eyes scanned the room. Slowly people continued to drip in. Face after face was met with a familiar tick in my mental excel spread sheet. Presenters, ex-players, organization presidents, writers and editors.
Final, last-minute fine tuning was happening, camera men were checking their sound levels, props were being placed on the stage, photographers clicked away.
Obviously something was going on here…
(A few minutes late…) The start arrived. We were welcomed and then told about what would happen throughout the presentation. We had two ladies sing us a song. They were very good but no one seemed to listen when they (eventually resorted to) begging us to stand and dance.
I was a few rows behind Aaron Mokoena. He was pulled out of his seat and forced to shake a hip or two. (Thank goodness for not being famous!)
Dance and drama followed before, in a clever plot, the shirt was revealed as part of the show.
The plot may have been too clever for us, or we may have fallen asleep, (I’m not sure…) but when it arrived we didn’t even seem to notice.
Once the penny had dropped, the newly designed yellow and green shirt was met with applause from all.
Being a little further away from the action, my first response was, ‘ah, chaps I think you forgot the old one on him…’
After the model was joined by two more shirt wearing young men and walked to the end of the stage, I realized it was in fact very different. And very nice!
The conclusion of the presentation was an interview with members of Adidas as well as the SAFA president and team skipper Mokoena.
In the middle of the play we were shown a video about the new campaign Adidas have launched to ‘unite the nation behind Bafana’ called ‘Unite Mzansi Unite’.
The basic idea is a huge replica shirt that will travel the country in the big truck (remember the truck?). The truck will travel from host city to host city and ‘everywhere’ in between. South Africans of all shapes, sizes and colours are encouraged to sign the shirt.
Brilliant, I thought!
We were released and had to choose between lining up to the sign the giant shirt, grabbing food or claiming our free replica shirt. I went with the shirt. Although the food was tempting…
The location was a brilliant thought. The campaign: a stroke of genius. The food was good. The people were… there.
Walking around afterwards, surrounded by cameras and interviewers, photographers and celebrities, my thought was this: ‘this is football’.
And it is. Soccer is loved not because it is sport (which it is…). Soccer is not watched because of the emotions it stirs within you. Shirts are not bought because we need them.
Football is what it is because it has status. It’s lights and camera’s and people and hype.
It’s fashion and money and cars. It is a dream.
The fans standing on the other side of the metal railing were craning necks to just catch a glimpse of someone. Or even something. They didn’t care what or who. They just wanted to see fame.
And for South Africa, a country with so much poverty and strife, the chance to just see, just experience something, anything, can change someone’s life.
I was lucky enough to be on the inside of the railing. To be amongst the famous and the powerful. I was shaking hands with ex-players and originations presidents.
It changed my life…
High 5’s all round to Adidas. They put on a great show. They created a beautiful jersey. They made magic. And that’s what football is all about.
ADIDAS’ NEW BAFANA BAFANA HOME KIT AND ‘UMU’ CAMPAIGN PICTURES
BAFANA BAFANA – WHERE DOES THE ROT START?
I can’t claim to be an expert on South African football – even though I do live here. I have always watched and focused on the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League. I have in recent times, however watched a lot of the international matches that Bafana have played in.
Now I could talk about the fact that my spell check doesn’t have “Bafana” as a word and that it tells me to write “banana” instead. Then I could draw all sorts of metaphors from that; we play like bananas, we seem to slip on our own peels… there are some really good ones. I don’t think that would be helpful however. There is one metaphor I would like to use and the banana situation does help. If Bafana was a banana, where would the rot start?
It doesn’t take a clever person or even a soccer fan to realize there is a problem. I think that it is possible that the problem is being looked at from the wrong angle -and without sounding glum – I don’t think it can be all that easily rectified. The World Cup could just be 5 years too early for us.
Now Africa is not Europe – an obvious statement, with a huge amount of implication. That said Africa can be (like) Europe. If there is one thing that Europe (and South America in that case) has gotten right it is development.
And there you have it folks. I’ve solved the problem… Our biggest problem is: DEVELOPMENT.
If you look at the current squad (the one picked to play Iceland) what do we have?
The most capped South African player ever in our captain Aaron Mokoena with 94 caps.
Our eighth highest goal scorer in Teko Modise – with a massive 9 goals! (He has scored 9 in 37 appearances but he has only scored in 6 of those matches, which means he hasn’t scored in 31!)
The oldest player is MacBeth Sibaya at 31. The youngest is 22 year old defender Anele Ngcongca.
Of the 23 players in the squad, 9 of them are based outside of South Africa.
Now all these stats don’t seem too bad really compared to the other African teams (and the truth is they aren’t bad at all!). In fact on paper Bafana could put out a very good side. But ask England, paper teams don’t win trophies.
Safa vice-president Mwelo Nonkonyana said that they are looking for someone to take Bafana to “new and greater heights”. Well we can’t go much lower can we?
The world will arrive here in a few short months and we could find ourselves rooting for opposition teams as soon as the knock-out phase begins – because we won’t be there.
There is a lot of talk about the return of Carlos Alberto Parreira after he was sacked from his job in Brazil. If I was him I’m not sure I would even want to return. On his appointment he asked for a few things – all of which where based around development. He got none. The thing is Safa seem so eager to throw large amounts of money at people to be Bafana’s “Messiah”. The problem is that the rot starts further down than the 11 men on the pitch.
Now, we don’t want all of our best payers floating off to Europe, but then… look at the likes of Booth. He has returned from time in Europe a much better player. He now has experience and ability that no one else has and he can “coach” his team into playing better. A mass exodus of players to Europe will at first hurt our local competition but give it a few years when Europe don’t want them because they are getting slightly older and their return here will strengthen the sides they come back to.
Brazil have won the World Cup more times than any other country. They have a player in almost every league in the world! Top teams, top leagues – the result? Top, top players!
One of the criticisms leveled at Bafana was that they all seem to be playing on different pages. Many then tried to blame this on the fact that they all play for different clubs. That isn’t an excuse at all. Gerrard and Rooney play in different teams – arch rivals in fact! Great players can adapt to different ways of playing.
The strikers have complained about lack of service. Great strikers make opportunities for themselves and they create space for each other and the midfield, by running in good channels. Midfielders gain time on the ball by moving into space and playing smart balls. Ball possession is kept when players make themselves available and the “easy ball” is played. Some players like the ball to be played in space, others to their feet.
It’s not so much about being able to play as a team in a strategy but rather to play as a team to the strengths of each other.
Bafana don’t need a new coach, what we need is a coach who plays to our strengths and brings out the best of our very skilled players ability.
We do need development, we do need a real goal scorer (bring back Benni) and we do need a reliable defence (bring back Norris).
What Bafana need more than anything else is confidence and consistency. Sure bring back Parreira – he has massive amounts of experience! If he does come back however, let’s listen to what he has to say. Start on a clean slate. Pick goal scorers, pick the boys who are in form, pick the experienced, pick the boys with “big game” mentality. Don’t be nice; don’t pick on reputation. Play hard ball! The Bafana players need to find the pride that the likes of England have when pulling on the national jersey.
On paper, on a good day, with a full strength squad, we – I believe – can beat anyone.
All we need is to work harder to get there.