Up Close: Italy PUMA EURO 2012 Home Jersey

The Italy PUMA EURO 2012 home jersey was released in November and was worn for the first time in the Azzurri’s friendly win against Copa America 2011 champions Uruguay. Over the past few days we’ve has one of the latest Italy kits in our possession for an up close look. It is now available at World Soccer Shop, Tienda Fútbol Mundial, Onionbag.com and Subside Sports.

Design
After using an ultra-modern look for the Italy World Cup 2010 / 2010-12 home jersey, the design team at PUMA has opted for a vintage feel with the Italy EURO 2012 home shirt.

Whilst made of the latest in lightweight PUMA USP moisture-wicking fabric, the new Italy jersey features a look reminiscent of the 1950s and 60s with a flat knit rib collar and bottomless placket with two buttons underneath.

It is slim-fitting in line with today’s men’s fashion trends and is adorned with the new PUMA PowerCat 1.12 shirt modern web design on its front. This design was first seen during recent PUMA signee Cesc Fàbregas’ unveiling as a PUMA athlete.

The Italy PUMA EURO 2012 home jersey can be considered to be made up of three distinct regions — the PowerCat 1.12 front area, the retro-look collar and placket area, and a highly ventilated back and underarm area made of USP mesh.

Fit
As mentioned above, the Italy PUMA EURO 2012 home kit has a slim fit. We had a tester who usually wears size Large try it on to see how it fit. What we found was that it does fit true to size. However, given that the wearer was somewhat muscular, the non-stretching mesh at the tips of the sleeves on the shirt did fit somewhat tightly. Therefore, if you are of a stockier build we recommend going a size up for one of these.

Feel
The Italy PUMA EURO 2012 home jersey is extremely light in weight compared to today’s other soccer jerseys. As such it feels very comfortable on the skin and almost like you’re not wearing anything at times.

Our tester wore it for an indoor soccer match and a gym workout and reports that it is very cooling during vigorous activity and quickly disseminates sweat. He likened it in performance to a baselayer compression top.

Extras
Extra can make soccer jerseys. The Italy PUMA 2012/13 home shirt offers a couple of significance. The first is a set of four golden stars on the inner neckline in recognition of Il Azzurri’s four FIFA World Cup titles. The second is the welded patch pocket on which the FIGC badge lies. It is reminiscent of soccer shirt badges of the distant past and keeps with the vintage feel of the jersey.

Final Thoughts
We think that the Italy PUMA EURO 2012 home jersey is one of the best soccer kits released during 2012. While just about every other footie shirt on the market claims to be “retro” now some of them can earn the moniker while others fail dismally. This Italy jersey is every bit vintage in look yet modern in feel. It is definitely one for Italy soccer fans and shirt collectors.

Thanks to Heather for making this review possible!

Check out our Kits and Jerseys section for more brand new soccer shirts.