Adidas has a long tradition of creating outstanding kits for club and country alike. The newest Adidas kits are no different as the design is one of beauty and class. Mix that with a bright color scheme and you have one of the nicest looking kits in the world.

That’s exactly what we have here with the Nigeria Home Kit. Using a solid field of green with nothing more than white markings and the Nigerian Football Association badge on the left chest. With the colors of the African nations it is easy for manufacturers to get carried away with the colors on the kit. I would personally have liked to see a little touch of red in this kit, but overall it is very clean and professional looking. Definitely deserves 4 out of 5 stars…maybe if it had a little red it would have been a perfect 5.

Buy Your Nigeria Home Kit Here

I fully expect Morocco to unveil the kit they will wear for the African Cup of Nations in the next few days, or if they have please let me know. Until I find otherwise, I will use the kit they wore for their home matches from 2006-2007.

Nike has made their kits extremely simple and elegant. This is no exception. Utilizing only the colors of the nation and no extra designs, the Moroccon home kit is one to be remembered. A solid field of green is only broken up by the red on the edge of the sleeves, the collar and of course the Morocco Football badge over the left chest. This kit is simple and it is nice to see that Nike did not go overboard with the potential color scheme. I’ll give it a 3 out of 5 stars, not too bad.

Buy Your Morocco Home Kit Here

Like their fellow Africans, Mali will take the pitch in the exact same kit as Guinea…just a different color scheme obviously.

Utilizing the same manufacturer and the exact same kit, Mali has a kit that will make an impression and should become an instant classic. Solid field of green with the national colors of green, yellow and red on the front of the collar, on the bottom of the right sleeve and on a stripe down the left side makes this one of the nicer kits in this tournament. Add the Mali Football Association Badge over the heart to break up the stripe and you have a kit that makes a statement. I love African teams and the colors they utilize in their kits and national colors, and when that pride shows on a kit it is unmistakeable. I give this kit 4 out of 5 stars, would love to see it white!

Buy Your Mali Home Kit Here

Ivory Coast has been a pleasant surprise on the World Cup front many times with upsets and hard play. This year they will look to bring that same attitude and hard play to the pitch in the African Cup of Nations in a great looking Puma Kit.

I have been wanting to see how Puma incorporated their new design with a color rich country that are in abundance in Africa. They did not let me down. On a solid field of white, Puma incorporated the colors of the Ivory Coast, green and orange, all over the kit in very well placed spots. Green collar and green on the sleeves really make the green in the Ivory Coast badge stand out. Mix in the orange Puma logos and that brings out the orange in the badge. Top it off with the colors of the country on the front of the collar and you have a kit that easily deserves 4 out of 5 stars…one could argue for a perfect 5, but I’m sticking with 4 as there is still more that I think could have been done. Not too bad though.

Buy Your Ivory Coast Away Kit Here

When Guinea takes the pitch in the African Cup of Nations this year, they will do so in an extremely great looking kit. Though I am not sure of the manufacturer (sorry), it is what I would expect out of an African Football Association.

On a solid field of red, the Guinea officials and kit manufacturer incorporated the colors of the nation into the kit. Something that I think every country should do in some fashion. Down the left side there is the Guinea Football Association badge that breaks up the stripe of red, yellow and green. Along with the colors there, there are the same colors on the front of the collar, no doubt the colors of the country. I like this kit and think it definitely deserves 4 out of 5.

Buy Your Guinea Home Kit Here

Ghana will be playing the host of the African Cup of Nations for this year and hopes to keep the trophy from travelling outside of their country when the tournament is over. I searched everywhere for a new kit, but all I could come up with was the all white kit they have worn since the 2006 World Cup. So here it is.

Traditional Puma kit with nothing else on it. All white with black Puma logos and the the Ghana Football Association Badge on the left chest. Nothing too fancy, yet still very plain and has no character. I love the African Nations because of their love affair with bright colors, and usually that corresponds to the kits. This time however it did not, very poor effort by Puma and the Ghana officials. Maybe a new kit will be better, but this one is nothing more than 2 out of 5 stars.

Egypt is set to add a new kit to their collection, however I have not seen it yet so I am sticking with what I have seen. That is the home kit of the Egyptians from 2006-08, but expect a new kit for the African Cup of Nations in the near future.

Puma is the kit manufacturer of Egypt and I like a simple kit. Well it does not get much simpler than this. A solid field of red, the Egyptian Football Association Badge with 4 stars over it and white Puma logos. Nothing else. Hopefully with the new Puma kits out there Egypt will be fortunate enough to wear one of them, because right now this kit is lacking any character at all. This kit is no more than 3 out of 5 stars, and that is being generous.

Buy Your Egypt Home Kit Here

As with many of the European clubs that will be participating in the Euro 2008, Puma is the kit manufacturer for African power Cameroon. Let me say that they did a magnificent job with the Cameroon Away kits.

Sticking with the traditional away color of yellow, Puma added a few nice features to really set this kit apart from others. Putting the Cameroon Football Association badge on the right chest is a unique design, however it plays with tradition as the Lion’s head is always over the heart. Add a collar to the kit, and with all of the newer Puma kits that have a collar there is a space in the front for national colors. On this kit there are the colors of Cameroon as well as a star in the middle of it. Very nice touch, add a little bit of red on the sleeves and the Puma logos and there you have it. A very nice kit for a team that is looking to win the African Cup of Nations. This kit is an easy 4 out of 5, possibly even a perfect 5, but let’s not get carried away.

Buy Your Cameroon Away Kit Here

The USA 08/10 home kit is available for sale.

Now I must say that Nike and the US have missed out on the last 2 of their 3 kits they unveiled. I thought that the white with the red and blue down the left side was a nice kit. In fact I own one, but the retro blue with the red and white going horizontally across the chest was a miscue and the blue they wore in the Copa America was horrible. But this one I like.

Solid white with small red stripes and blue around the collar and sleeves is a nice look. Though not the best I have seen this year from Nike, it does rank up there with some of the best. This kit deserves 4 out of 5 from me. It’s simple yet busy, usually a hard combination to get.

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Let me first say that I know this is an older kit, but I have not found the newer kit for Angola. So as of right now, this is what they will be wearing for the African Cup of Nations until I found out otherwise. On to the kit.

What I love about African teams is the bright colors of the countries and how it is incorporated into the National Team kits. Angola is a great example as it is a simple kit with 2 large stripes, black and yellow, and 2 smaller stripes of the same colors on a field of red. Which are the National colors of Angola. This kit deserves 4 out of 5 stars, definitely. Great kit and I can not wait to see what they unveil for the next couple of years.

Buy Your Angola Home Kit Here

Steve Amoia over at Soccerlens.com had the privilege and honor to interview a true humanitarian, Mr. Diego Gutierrez of the Chicago Fire. Please jump on over to the interview and read about a great cause called Nothing but Nets and help stop the outbreak of Malaria in Africa.

Last year Nike and Turkey unveiled a new design for their away kits. Now this is always a big deal, however this time around was more shocking than anything else as the away kit went from being the traditional red to solid white.

I really like this kit because it is simple and extremely nice looking with the mix of colors. But I have no idea where the light blueish green on the collar comes from. Maybe one of you can tell me, but I know it does not match the National colors of Turkey so I’m lost as to where it came from. On a side note it looks great on this kit with the contrast of white and the Turkey National Flag on the left chest. Overall a great looking kit that deserves 4 out of 5 stars. Great work Nike and Turkey.

Buy Your Turkey Away Kit Here

Update: SL reader ‘linda’ writes in: “you said you didn’t know what the light blue color around the neck was about as it didn’t appear on the flag. that blue is turquoise and is known as turkish blue. it’s like italy’s blue or netherlands’ orange…”

Thanks for the assist linda!”