Portugal Nike EURO 2012 Home Kit

Following February’s launch of its new away strip, federation technical sponsor Nike has unveiled the Portugal EURO 2012 away kit. It will be the first choice uniform of team captain Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the Portuguese national team during the 2012/13 international season and is now available at World Soccer Shop and Subside Sports.

According to Nike: Portugal’s new home kit has been augmented with symbols from their glorious seafaring history.

The new Portugal home kit is a classic design, featuring an all red body with an elegant green crew neck collar.

On the sleeves are green crosses formed from thin stripes, with the horizontal lines extending around the entire cuff, to represent the revered Portuguese national symbol, which was emblazoned on the sails of the ships Portugal’s explorers navigated around the world.

Inside the neck is an Armillary Sphere, an astronomical and navigation instrument, which these explorers used to discover the world. It has been a national symbol for over 500 years, featuring in architecture, and most famously as the background to the Portuguese shield on the national flag.

The new home shorts are red, while the new home socks, now with improved cushioning for greater comfort, are also red with a thin green stripe at the top and a small green cross on the back of each calf.

Currently ranked fifth in the world by FIFA, Portugal is pooled with Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in Group B of EURO 2012. The Portuguese have never won the Euros but were runners-up in 2004. The team made the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup two years later.

The Portugal Nike EURO 2012 home kit will see on the field action for the first time on May 26th when Ronaldo and company meet FYR Macedonia in Leiria in a warm-up match for the European championships. It will also be used in a June 2nd friendly with Turkey in Lisbon.

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