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Remember when our national team wore jean shorts to a World Cup?

USA SOCCER

U.S. defender Cle Kooiman models the faux-denim shirt.

Photo by Stephen Dunn/Allsport/Getty Images

Alan Siegel is a hero. Not as much of a hero as the gentleman who designed the United States denim-looking World Cup shirts of yesteryear, but the Slate writer brings us the story of the jerseys and that’s good enough for me.

Before we go any further, is there any better model for the shirt th at Cle “Business in the front” Kooiman (above).

This, my friends, is a must-read. A taste:

“We were like the cowboys of the world,” midfielder Tab Ramos remembers. “Here we were, wearing jeans.”

Yes, yes you were.

images

(Courtesy: thedenimkit.com) Get some.

What a special time it was for American soccer fans. I know it was the 90s, but can you imagine the United States rolling out something like this today? Scratch that, of course you can.

How did the guys react to seeing this Billy Ray Cyrus concert on a shirt? More from the Slate report:

After the uniform unveiling, the normally loquacious Yanks didn’t say a word. “It was the longest silence I’d ever heard from our team,” remembers forward Eric Wynalda.

Then,laughter broke out. Defender Paul Caligiuri thought the jersey looked like a clown suit. Even shaggy-haired, guitar-playing center backAlexi Lalas, who once wrote and performed a song called “Kickin’ Balls,” hated it. In fact, he thought the squad had been pranked. “I’d be lying if I said people weren’t looking around for the hidden camera,” he says.


If you’re looking for a smile, this piece is ready for you.
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