Azerbaijan Away 2011

 

Azerbaijan team lining up before a match

 

Flag of Azerbaijan

First international: Georgia 6-3 Azerbaijan (1993)

Biggest win: Azerbaijan 4-0 Liechtenstein (1999)

Biggest loss: France 10-0 Azerbaijan (1995)

Most capped: Rashad Sadygov (85 caps)

Top scorer: Gurban Gurbanov (14 goals)

Star player: Rashad Sadygov (FK Qarabag)

Azerbaijan have been playing football since 1927 but back then they were part of the Soviet Union. It was until 1991 that Azerbaijan gained independence and then in 1992 the Azerbaijani Football Association was formed. Then in 1994 they were finally granted into FIFA and UEFA meaning they could compete in the qualification rounds for the World Cup and European Championships. To this day they have not managed to though or even come close to qualification. 

 In February 2004 Azerbaijan appointed the 1970 Brazilian World Cup winning captain Carlos Alberto as their manager and started with a 6-0 loss to Israel. But despite this they managed to get their first ever away win with a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan. Then following a 8-0 defeat to Poland, Michael Owen stated that he could even score 5 goals against Azerbaijan. He didn't as England only won the game 2-0 and it caused Carlos Alberto to say 'Owen does not deserve a guy like me talking about him. He's a midget'. Things did not get much better for Alberto as he resigned in 2005 after a 3-0 loss to Poland. Then in 2008, former Scotland manager Berti Vogts took charge of Azerbaijan and remains there till this day. Out of 4 games so far they have drawn 2 and lost 2 in the qualification for the World Cup so I would not expect to see them at Brazil in 2014.

 But did you know an Azerbaijani has played a massive part in a World Cup final before? Well the linesman that awarded the goal against Germany in the 1966 World Cup final for England was from Azerbaijan. Whether it went over the line or not is another question. 

 Credit to my German friend Sascha for finding the shirts from the city of Baku. You can view his blog by clicking here.

http://mynationalteamcollection.blogspot.co.uk/

Nigeria Home 1994

First international: Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria (1949)

Biggest win: Nigeria 10-1 Benin (1959)

Biggest loss: Ghana 7-0 Nigeria (1955)

Most capped: Joseph Yobo (88 caps)

Top scorer: Rashidi Yekini (37 goals)

Star player: Peter Odemwingie (West Brom) 


This kit is from the 1994 World Cup where Nigeria made their first appearance. They faired well in the 1994 World Cup as they topped their group which set up a tie against Italy. They took the lead in that game and was within 2 minutes of qualifying before Roberto Baggio scored a goal which took the game into extra time. Baggio then won the match by scoring a second in extra time. They returned again in 1998 and again managed to get through the group stage before losing 4-1 to Denmark. Again they returned for the World Cup in 2002 but they could not get through the group stages this time. They failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup before returning to the World Cup in 2010. They could of possibly qualified if Yakubu could score an open goal but he somehow missed it. YouTube Yakubu miss if you do not know what I am talking about.
 Nigeria have won the African Nations in 1980 and 1994 but have not faired too good recently. Maybe they can win the 2013 tournament?

Palestine Home 2002

 

 

Flag of Palestine

First international: Egypt 8-1 Palestine (1953)

Biggest win: Palestine 11-0 Guam (2006)

Biggest loss: Egypt 8-1 Palestine (1953)

Most caps: Ramzi Saleh (74 caps)

Top scorer: Fahed Attal (14 goals)

Star player: Fahed Attal (Shabab Al-Khaleel)

These Palestine shirts are made by a Chilean sports brand called Training. Palestinian football has quite a big connection with Chile because in 2002 the manager they appointed grew up in Chile and had connections within the Santiago Palestinian community and he bought a few Palestinians from Chile into the squad. 

Mahmoud Al-Sarsak was kidnapped by Israel in 2009 and imprisoned for three years without trial. He went on a hunger strike for three months in protest over his imprisonment, risking death and likely ruining his promising future in football. After considerable international pressure on his behalf, including FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the Israeli military was forced to release him in 2012. 

The problems the Palestinian team face to play matches is huge with the on going conflict with the Isreali's. Facilities have been destroyed and I believe they have to play their home matches in a different country due to safety issues.

Niger Home 2011

 

 

Flag of Niger

First international: Nigeria 1-0 Niger (1963)

Biggest win: Niger 7-1 Mauritania (1990)

Biggest loss: Niger 1-9 Ghana (1969)

Star player: Moussa Maazou (Etoile Du Sahel)

Niger had never qualified for a major tournament until the 2012 African Nations Cup. If you watched the tournament you would of seen Niger wore Errea shirts for the first match before reverting back to Tovio shirts which are the ones in the picture. I am not sure why this happened but unless you know your shirts then you probably did not even notice it. Niger in a group of South Africa, Egypt and Sierra Leone shocked everyone by topping the group and qualifying for the 2011 African Nations Cup before going out in the group. They will also be participating in upcoming after scoring two late goals to win 2-0 and go through 2-1 on aggregate against Guinea.

You can get the shirt here
 http://www.footballshirtworld.co.uk/shop/caf/niger-home-white-shirt.html

Niger Away 2011

 

 

Flag of Niger

First international: Nigeria 1-0 Niger (1963)

Biggest win: Niger 7-1 Mauritania (1990)

Biggest loss: Niger 1-9 Ghana (1969)

Star player: Moussa Maazou (Etoile Du Sahel)

Niger had never qualified for a major tournament until the 2012 African Nations Cup. If you watched the tournament you would of seen Niger wore Errea shirts for the first match before reverting back to Tovio shirts which are the ones in the picture. I am not sure why this happened but unless you know your shirts then you probably did not even notice it. Niger in a group of South Africa, Egypt and Sierra Leone shocked everyone by topping the group and qualifying for the 2011 African Nations Cup before going out in the group. They will also be participating in upcoming after scoring two late goals to win 2-0 and go through 2-1 on aggregate against Guinea.

You can get the shirt here
http://www.footballshirtworld.co.uk/shop/caf/niger-away-green-shirt.html

Santos Away 2012

The away shirt of the Brazilian side Santos. Famous for being the team that Pele scored over 1,000 goals for and the player on the back of the shirt Neymar is probably the closest they will ever get to finding another Pele. I'd expect a big side to come in and sign him soon though.

Shanghai Shenhua Home 2011

Shanghai Shenhua seem to be the Chinese big spenders of the footballing world now. After shocking everyone and signing Nicolas Anelka from Chelsea they became more known to football fans all over the world and it was Nicolas Anelka's promotion to player manager which supposedly did the trick in bringing Didier Drogba to Shanghai Shenhua, either that or the massive wages he will receive whilst playing for them.

Anzhi Makhachkala Home 2012

Anzhi Makhachkala are becoming more known over the world as the team who have loads of money. Their billionaire owner has a plan to make the club the best in the world and when you can offer someone like Samuel Eto'o £350,000 a week then you obviously mean business. Although the place itself where the team is situated is quite run down and notorious for criminal behaviour. The Anzhi players train in Moscow and live in Moscow and have to fly 1,000 miles to get to their home games. In the Europa League this season Anzhi have to play their home games in Moscow because of safety issues. Also if you think the E has been put on wrongly on the shirt then that is in fact the Russian spelling of Eto'o.

Ivory Coast Away 2011

 

Ivory Coast in a friendly against Russia 

   

Flag of Ivory Coast

First international: Ivory Coast 3-2 Benin (1960)

Biggest win: Ivory Coast 6-0 Botswana (1992)

Biggest loss: Ivory Coast 2-6 Ghana (1971)

Most caps: Didier Zokora (105 caps)

Top scorer: Didier Drogba (58 goals)

Star player: Yaya Toure (Man City FC)

Ivory Coast have only been well known to people thanks to their quality of players they have produced in recent years. Ivory Coast internationals have been present in English football for sometime now with players like Drogba, Eboue, Toure, Kalou and Gervinho all having starred in the premier league. Because of the quality of these players they have now reached the World Cup in 2006 and 2010 which is their only ever times. Although they have competed in the African Nations Cup 19 times and won it once in 1992. They came close to winning the 2011 African Nations Cup before losing on penalties to Zambia. With the quality of players they have you'd expect them to win another one soon.

Republic of Ireland Home 2011

 

Rep of Ireland after conceding a goal against Spain

  

Flag of Republic of Ireland

First international: Irish Free State 1-0 Bulgaria (1924)

Biggest win: Republic of Ireland 8-0 Malta (1983)

Biggest loss: Brazil 7-0 Republic of Ireland (1982)

Most caps: Shay Given (125 caps)

Top scorer: Robbie Keane (64 goals)

Star player:  Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow)

Republic of Ireland have been to five major finals before with their latest one being the European Championship in 2012. They did not do very well on that occasion and finished bottom of their group losing every game. In 1990 they appeared in their first ever World Cup in which they surprised a lot of people by getting into the quarter finals. Their only ever other World Cup appearances were in 2002 in which they lost on penalties to Spain in the second round and 1994 which they lost to the Netherlands 2-0 in the second round also.

Uruguay Away 2010

  

 

Flag of Uruguay

 First international: Uruguay 2-1 Argentina (1901)

Biggest win: Uruguay 9-0 Bolivia (1927)

Biggest loss: Uruguay 0-6 Argentina (1902)

Most capped: Diego Forlan (89 caps)

Top scorer: Diego Forlan (33 goals)

Star player: Luis Suarez (Liverpool FC)


Uruguay are one of the most successful teams in South America. They have in fact won 2 world cups (winning the first ever one) and have 15 Copa America titles, the latest one coming last year. They've competed in 41 Copa Americas overall and 11 world cups. For a country with just 3 million people this is quite an achievement and they recently managed to get up to as high as 2nd in the FIFA world rankings. The last world cup they got knocked out in the semi finals but Luis Suarez caused controversy when he handled the ball on the line in the last minute of extra time. Gyan then missed the penalty and Uruguay won the penalty shootout.