Check out Nigeria’s Super Eagles kit to the 2018 Football World Cup

Nike has revealed Nigeria’s Super Eagles collection to the upcoming 2018 Football World Cup taking place in Russia this summer. It is part of the 27 country collections released by Nike yesterday.

Nike’s energetic collection for the Nigeria Football Federation is imbued with the “Naija” spirit

In a press release, Nike has this to say about the theme.

“The word Naija has many uses. As a descriptor, it defines a certain future-focused optimism — one that has catalyzed a new generation of Nigerians to celebrate the nation’s vibrant culture. Use of the word requires attitude, even panache. It isn’t simply a stand-in for Nigeria; instead, Naija reflects a youthful exuberance, pride and fresh perspective on patriotism. To some, Naija translates directly to “the new Nigeria.” With boundless potential and an undoubtedly infectious palpable charisma, the squad begs fandom from anyone — interest in football notwithstanding.”

“With Nigeria, we wanted to tap into the attitude of the nation,” notes Dan Farron, Nike Football Design Director. “We built this kit and collection based on the players’ full identities.” Along with other members of the Nike Football design group, Farron dug into learning more about Nigeria’s players, “We started to see trends in attitude and energy connecting the athletes to music, fashion and more. They are part of a resoundingly cool culture.”

“A constant in Nigeria is an endearing love of football,” says Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation. “When football is on, everything stops. The new Nike kit designs honor our federation’s rich traditions. Moreover, they celebrate everything we relish about our culture.”

The home kit pays subtle homage to Nigeria’s ’94 shirt (worn by Nigeria’s first team to qualify) with its eagle wing-inspired black-and-white sleeve and green torso. Today, those elements are supercharged through an abstracted feather pattern and hyper colors that extend a power capable of turning heads on and off pitch.

Fittingly, the pattern extends to Nigeria’s anthem jacket along with pre-match and training apparel. The latter features taping along the shoulders emblazoned with Super Eagles (the endearing nickname for the senior team resonates for all generations), while the jacket sleeve reads “Naija.”

As a natural contrast to the home kit, the away kit introduces a cool, refined vision of a classic Nigeria full-green strip. “Overall, the two uniforms form the perfect yin/yang of kits. We counterbalanced the energy of the home with a super-dark deep green away look,” explains Farron. “Then we recolored the crest to be a single color but lifted it in a really bright green. This gives us a really clean aesthetic.”

Naija zeal extends further in the off-pitch portion of the collection. Most notably, there’s the travel suit — a tonal green floral affair with significant swagger. Accessories, including bucket hats, add personality, and each piece is designed to be mixed and matched to preference.

Nigeria was the first African country to qualify for this summer’s World Cup finals when Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi scored the 73rd minute winner against Zambia