Germany led the way by making the most difficult shirt change ever known

Football in 2024 is multifaceted, sporting, economic, historical and even sentimental, with tradition as the axis of the plot. The product changes and may include situations not previously thought of. Now that there is so much talk about the possibility that FC Barcelona could take a bold step in a possible change of the sports brand after more than a quarter of a century of collaboration with the American multinational Nike, the last few hours have brought as news for what it is, certainly the most unexpected replacement that has probably been seen in the world of football: the German team has left its most famous brand, Adidas, to put itself in the hands, precisely, of Nike . It is surprising: it seems that the German Federation fully applied the reasoning given by the president of FC Barcelona, ​​Joan Laporta, in his interview with MD, when asked about the possibility that the Barça club could wear another brand in the future. .Next. “Which is easier to continue with Nike? Sometimes what is easy is not the best. And we want the best for Barça,” he said.

Surprisingly, the German Football Federation officially announced the most famous and unexpected separation probably seen in the modern history of football: from 2027 its new supplier is Nike, which closes a contractual relationship with Adidas, the company of origin. Germany has dressed the German national team since 1954. The current documentary link between the German Federation expires at the end of 2026 and the DFB has chosen not to extend that union, 70 years later.

“The future cooperation with Nike will enable the DFB to continue to carry out key tasks in the coming decade with the aim of the comprehensive development of football in Germany,” said Bernd Neuendorf, president of the German Federation. “Until December 2026 we will do everything possible to achieve shared success with our former and current partner Adidas, to whom German football owes a lot for more than seven decades,” he added, knowing the Germany’s involvement, also sentimental, with Adidas. Neuendorf tried to warm to a company that, although not yet under its current name, was about to turn 100 years old: in July 1924, Herzogenaurach gave birth to the brand Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik which, on August 18, 1949 , adopted the current name of Adidas, because one of the two founding brothers (Adolf, the other Rudolf), added his nickname ‘Adi’ to the first three letters of his last name, ‘das’, when he was in charge of design and manufacture of sports shoes. . The Dassler brothers split the company in the midst of the post-world war. Rudolf then founded Germany’s other leading brand, Puma, which ironically is now also used to dress Barça.

With Adidas as the official supplier, Germany has won four World Cups and three European Championships for men, as well as two World Cups and eight European Championships for women. In the end, the simplest explanation is surely the most valid. “Nike made the best economic offer,” Neuendorf said. That, and “sometimes, easy isn’t best.”