China

Wow! almost a year of not updating this blog. Talk about procrastination ...

The attempt to collect at least a shirt from each of the countries under FIFA is still on-going. I'll be pleased of I can hit 160 countries by end of the year. At the moment, I'm about reaching number 140. In the pipelines, are shirts from Barbados, Afghanistan, Lesotho, Nepal and a few others.

This posting is about the shirts of the China national team. They made it to the World Cup once back in 2002 and boasted some greats such as Sun Jihai, Fan Zhi Yi, Li Weifeng. I have 4 shirts of theirs and in my book, they have a very elegant red home shirt by Adidas.

Haven't visited China. Hope to do so in the near future. Walking the Great Wall of China is in my to do list. Crossing fingers.

Cheers

Zidane. Will there ever be another one like him?

Tough to say. I guess I am lucky to have been able to sit in front of the telly back in 1998 to be mesmerized by the delicate & dazzling skills of Zinedine Zidane for France in the World Cup tournament. For quite a number of memorable years, he continued to enthrall and captivate millions of footie fans the world over, from his stints with Juventus, Real Madrid, France national team or even when he first started out professionally with Cannes & then Bordeaux.

This white away shirt from that '98 glorious triumph for France is as per the one worn by the man himself. The white shirt was worn in the now-legendary quarterfinals encounter between France & Italy. Penalty shootouts win took Les Blues to the next stage, and the rest is history.

Bought from Rozdi again. Thanks my man!

Bukta remains an iconic brand out of UK.

Bought this one recently from a friend, Rozdi. He gave me a very good deal for it (Thanks Rozdi!).
Millwall is a team from south east of London, founded in 1885. A team that is very well-known for its lion-like fighting spirits and its passionate fans, it is befitting that the team is nick-named 'The Lions'.

This is the home shirt from the 1994-era, as as depicted by the picture from Sporting Heroes site, it is as worn by the club legend, the great Terry Hurlock.

Shirts from Jogja (Yogyakarta) !

Souvenirs from the city of Jogja (Yogyakarta) in Central Java. These are the shirts of one of the main teams based in Jogja, PSS Sleman.
The top one is a match-worn shirt from the 2006 season, bought at the Ultras shop in Sleman district, while the V-neck shirt is the new version bought from a seller (fan of the team) in Jogja.

Some retro shirts from the 80s in mint condition bought from a local store in town few months back, They are :

1) Admiral (with collar, grey)

2) Admiral (sky blue colour, just like Man City or Coventry!)

3) Umbro (nice v-neck with good combo of blue/red)

Recently bought from an Under Armour surplus store in town ... Deportivo Toluca home shirt made by the US brand, Under Armour. Pretty impressive shirt & design. Made in Malaysia. minus the 'Banamex' sponsor logo though ..

All Around The World (Lisa Stansfield hit song back in late 80's)

That seems to be theme song playing in my head as I decided to launch my latest project, which is to collect as many as possible, national team shirts from each of the countries from Planet Earth. At last count, I am only quarter of the way there, with about 89 countries covered. Long way to go, compared to the other collectors who have started this trend of collecting shirts from all over the world. Names such as Nick Warrick, Enrique Solorio etc are the stalwarts in this area. My respect & salute to them. Do check out their impressive collection!

As for my own collection, here they are in alphabetical order ....

Albania
Algeria
Argentina

Australia

Austria

Belgium
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina

Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Cameroon

Canada

Chile

China

Colombia
Costa Rica

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador

England
Faroe Islands
Finland

France
Georgia

Germany

Greece

Guinea
Holland

Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
India

Indonesia
Iran
Iraq

Ireland Republic

Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan

Korea
Laos
Latvia
Liberia

Lithuania

Malaysia

Mexico
Montenegro

Morocco

Myanmar
New Zealand

Nigeria
Northern Ireland

Norway

Paraguay

Peru

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russia
San Marino
Saudi Arabia

Scotland
Serbia

Singapore
Slovenia

South Africa

Spain
Sri Lanka

Sweden

Switzerland

Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Ukraine

USA
Uruguay

Venezuela

Vietnam

Wales
Zimbabwe

Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S) (temporary)

Yugoslavia (now defunct)

Didnt get to watch a match at the stadium while in Istanbul, but did buy a Besiktas shirt on sale at the club shop. What can I say? Istanbul. Amazing city.

My do-it-yourself Pakistan kit ...not bad huh

Pakisan vs Malaysia (0-2, after 1st leg) ....

All the best to our boys as they seek to emulate the team of 1980, who qualified to the Moscow Olympics, but had to go on a world tour instead, sent by the government ....

One step at a time >>> Lets overcome the Pakistan team, and then concentrate on the next match ... one thing for sure, the Harimau Malaya fans will be there at the stadium cheering for u!

Tradition Continues ...

Every October 5th is my birthday. Since I was 28 (I think) I have been getting a shirt printed with corresponding age number ... :) It's 41 this year, hence, this white Adidias plain shirt, good for futsal perhaps, with the word 'Libra' in front (go figure...)

Thank you Allah for this life ...

Manchester City (1997/98) home shirt - first by Kappa for them.

I remember this was the 1st Kappa shirt I went ga-ga about ...

Bought dirt cheap at a old-stock apparel shop somewhere in Seri Kembangan (KL's outskirt)

Pearl of the Orient ! Penang FA's official shirts by Joma.

Home : stripes light blue & white

Away : Blackpool's tangerine!

Bought from Joma's shop in KL

If Cameron Highlands has a football team, this could be their home & away jerseys :)

Found the 2 shirts (with Cameron Highlands embroidery) at a souvenir shop in Tanah Rata, one of the main towns there. Made by unknown Vono Sport.I had the jerseys printed with Cameron Highlands on the chest and numbers/names at the back. Thompson is a tribute to Jim Thompson, the American businessman who revitalized Thai silk & textiles industry in the 50s & 60s. He mysteriously disappeared while talking a walk in Cameron Highlands on March 26th, 1967. Russell is a tribute to J.A.Russell, the British businessman who founded the world-famous Boh Tea plantation there. The plantation is a must-visit if you go to Cameron Highlands.

So, can we have a Cameron Highlands FC? Gonna ask the folks at the local town council there...

Long live 'The Temptations' ...
I may love The Temptations' music but I am not about to give in to one (er..temptation) when it comes to buying shirts these days...times are bad, so you have to be mindful when deciding to buy or not to buy..

It is then that I proudly announced that in my recent 2 weeks trip in UK, I only spend some of my British Sterling notes to buy 3 shirts.. They are :

1) England current away shirt by Umbro. A nice, clean red top, made in China and all. A real snip at GBP 4.49. That works out to about RM 24 in my country's currency. Now that's what I call a bargain. BTW, in Malaysia at the Studio R sports shop in Sunway Pyramid, this very shirt is tagged at RM 249.

2) Leeds United FC current home shirt featuring its main man, Jermaine Beckford's name & number. On sale at the club shop at GBP 20, I added the name & number for some additional Pounds. May we see Leeds in the premierships again someday. That's a nice statue of Leeds legend, Billy Bremner outside the club shop.

3) York City FC current home shirt by Nike. This is an actual shirt worn previously by its former player, Jimmy Beadle (now at Whitby Town FC). Note the signature on the number at the back. Infos came straight from the club shop's manager. Note of thanks to my Garmin sat-nav for guiding me to this club in the city of York, not far from Leeds.