The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has unveiled new sets of jerseys for the Super Eagles, ahead of the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The jerseys came in three sets of Green and lemon, white, lemon and green, as well as orange and black, for the goalkeepers.
The NFA Chairman, Aminu Maigari, said the Football House chose the new colours to strike a balance between the present and future national teams, especially the Super Eagles.
Maigari, who was represented by the NFA’s 1st Vice Chairman, Mike Umeh, said the Eagles would officially use the jersey during their March 5 international friendly against Mexico in the US.
The Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Gbenga Elegbeleye, said the Super Eagles were the biggest brand in African football.
“The unveiling of these jerseys is an attempt to rebrand the Super Eagles. We have been doing well in recent years and we appreciate the support of President Goodluck Jonathan to Sports.
“It has not been so good in so short a time in the history of Nigerian football, having won the Africa Cup of Nations last year and the Under-17 World Cup. We are third place finishers at the 2014 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) in South Africa. We almost won the competition but we are happy with the “Golden Bronze’’ we won.
“I believe that these new jerseys will give us the luck to win more laurels, score more goals, concede less or probably not concede any goal at all,’’ Elegbeleye said.
He urged the leadership of the NFA to consolidate on the successes achieved so far by surpassing the quarterfinal record attained by African teams in previous World Cup editions.
Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Sports, said the unveiling of the new jerseys was an indication of a successful year for Nigerian football.
The lawmaker urged Adidas, the producers of the jerseys, to flood the Nigerian market with the authentic products, to discourage counterfeiters.
Musa Amadu, the Secretary-General, NFA, said the unveiling was necessary to enable Nigerians criticise the jerseys.
The NFA scribe said the colours of the jerseys had nothing in common with that of telecommunication company, Globacom, as speculated in some quarters.
“It is a balance between tradition and innovation; the bulk of the jersey is green. Don’t forget that we have used something similar since 2002 but this is better.
“It has nothing to do with the Globacom colours. Let us not bring controversies into this because the next thing you will ask me is whether Glo are the ones now making jerseys. Glo does not make jerseys for national teams, they are in the business of telecommunication,’’ Amadu said.
Amadu said Nigeria would join the likes of Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Germany and Spain, to showcase new jerseys at the 2014 World Cup.
Super Eagles Assistant Coach, Daniel Amokachi, who represented the Head Coach Stephen Keshi, said the team had been encouraged to excel at the World Cup.