Ireland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and they are crazy about two things. Beer and football. Though I do not know their favorite beer, I do know they are crazy about their football team. Umbro has long had the task of making a nice kit for a proud nation.

This kit is a winner in my opinion. Not because of Umbro, they have made some horrible kits recently (Like the new England Away Kit), but the color scheme is perfect and the simplicity is key. Solid green, which is Ireland’s main color, and touches of white and orange here and there are all this kits has. Which makes it nicer in my opinion. This could have very easily been a kit that was marked for disaster, however Umbro pulled it off with a beautiful kit that the Irish will wear for the remainder of this year at home. 4 out of 5 from me.

Buy Your Ireland Home Kit Here

Spain has long since been one of the best teams in the world. Adidas has done their part in giving them great looking kits for a number of years, and with the unveiling of the new Away kit that trend will continue. Great looking kit for an explosive team.

Playing on the gold inside of the Spanish crest, Adidas went with a solid gold top with black stripes on the sleeves. By adding the Spanish Crest on the left chest, which by the way is a perfect size crest, there is balance around the jersey. One nice touch is the lighter gold on the inside of the sleeves, complimented by the black piping going down the front. This is one of the nicest kits I have seen in a while. Definitely ranks up there with the best. I do not like giving perfect scores, but this one is close. I’m going to give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Buy Your Spain Away Kit Here

Well this is the end of an era for French fans. As our partner Marco reported over at soccerlens.com, France will make the switch from Adidas to Nike as their kit manufacturer in 2011. I will let you read Marco’s post over at soccerlens.com, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up. Interesting…I guess we’ll see if Nike can make thier kits better than they have in recent memory with the current sponsors.

France recently released the kit they will wear for the Euro 2008, and probably some other home games throughout the year. But scanning our friends over at Subsidesports.com I came across the new France 2008-09 Away Kit. Shocked was my first reaction. Really? Red?

Well red it is. Solid red. Not white with red, or blue with red…but red. Honestly I like it, I think it is a great contrast to the traditional French kits. However some French fans have been strongly opposed to it, which I’m sure might change if this kit brings them wins. However with the simplicity of the kit design, the solid red top with blue and white stripes is all this kit needs. Add the new FFF Badge on the left chest and you are done. I want to seriously give this kit 4 out of 5 stars, but it is hard for me to get past the solid red. So from me it gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Buy Your France Away Kit Here

Before Beckham touched down in LA, there was another famous player that graced the city with their football presence. George Best was one of the lucky ones, and I use that term loosely, to don a kit for the NASL Los Angeles Aztecs. Best was a great player, do not get me wrong, but the kits they wore were absolutely horrible.

Manufactured by Copa, the kits were nothing more than a white top with blue and orange around the sleeves and collar. That’s not the worst part. The name Aztecs was bad enough, but to not have any sort of crest or badge for the team made this kit look much worse than it should have been. Looking back at the era of kits, none were extremely nice looking. However this one was bad. Luckily for the US fans, Best could make any kit look great with his play. But without him, this kit is nothing more than a 1 out of 5. Horrible.

Buy Your LA Aztecs George Best Kit Here

Well Germany has unveiled their new Away kits that will be worn for the 2008-09 campaign. Much better than their new home kit, which was horrible to say the least. The new away kit is one that should be a favorite of all fans, not just the fans of Germany. It is simple, yet different, and the color scheme flows nicely throughout the top.

A solid field of red with a large black stripe down the middle contrasts beautifully with the gold stripes on the sleeves. Along with the black stripe, the collar is used to continue the black up. Along with the gold stripes on the sleeves, the German National Badge and the Championship stars are in the center of the kit (in the black) and blend nicely with the gold Adidas logo. This kit is stunning and a must have for any German fan. Adidas and German management really got this one right. I guess with 2 new kits, you have to get one of them right. 4 out of 5 stars for me…instant classic.

Buy Your Germany Away Kit Here

On the verge of the MLS season getting cranked up here in the States, I thought I would post a kit from a previous league that eventually went defunct, the NASL. Though the MLS has International stars such as Beckham, Angel, Blanco and Denilson, the NASL had argueably the best in the world. With the likes of Pele’, Beckenbauer and Best all playing together in one league, the world was bound to take notice. What happend? Well eventually all great players retire, and the US was not a market for soccer (football) at that time. Is it now? We will see, but it is much more so now than then.

One of the teams from the NASL (North American Soccer League) was the Washington Diplomats. Now the NASL was before my time, but I have to think that these kits were hidious then, just as they are now. I’m not sure who the manufacturer was, and for their sake I think that’s a good move. I have always been a fan of the color scheme of red, black and white, but having the word “DIPS” in large letters across the front does not do the team justice. I know there are some kits in the MLS that are not great looking, especially in the early days, but this one was just a bad idea all the way around. No wonder the world did not take that league seriously. 1 out of 5 for me, and that’s being generous.

Buy Your Washington Diplomats Kit Here

Recently Manchester United and Manchester City hooked up in a Premier League game that would pay tribute to the Air Munich disaster. Well over at EPLTalk, our friend The Gaffer did a wonderful representation on the kits worn by both teams. However here I will focus on Man U as they were technically the ones in mourning.

Going with a retro kit is always a great idea. When it comes to this particular date in history I think playing in the same kit (with today’s technology) is a great choice. Solid red with a white V-neck collar. What else can you ask for. Simplicity was not a fashion statement in the older days, it was the cheapest way to have a kit and represent your team. I like it and wish other clubs would go back to the simplicity, but with kit manufacturers and sponsors that will never happen. Unless it is a tribute to the fallen or history. 4 out of 5 stars for me…classic kit for a classic occassion.

Searching around the internet I came across a must have for any football collector. This is a jersey from the 1970 (replica) Brazilian National Team that is autographed by the great Pele’. This is 100% authentic and this is not some sort of sales pitch from me. I thought it was a cool site that has a lot of collectable items for the football fanatic in your life. Head on over to icons.com and have a look around. You’ll be impressed too with all of the merchandise they have and the players that have signed posters, kits, boots, etc.

Buy Your Autographed Pele’ Shirt Here

Well after much anticipation the newest Away kit for England has been unveiled…wow…this is not what I was expecting at all. With all the hype surrounding the kit I thought it would be more of a classic looking kit and less of a train wreck.

Let’s start with what I like about the kit. Having the “Three Lions” crest in the center is a shot back to the older days. It’s a nice touch, and sticking with the solid red has become a staple for England’s away kits. Aside from those I could not find much that I liked with it.

On the other hand I did find a few things I did not like about the kit. With the crest in the center of the kit, why did they leave the Championship star on the left by itself? It looks horrible and out of place over there. Add the blue and white markings and it looks like Umbro didn’t even try with this kit. To me this is a horrible excuse for a kit, and I hate the fact that we must look at this for 2 years before they release the next away kit. 2 out of 5…I am at a loss for words.

Buy Your 2008-10 England Away Kit Here