Rating the World Cup

As the sound of that !**@)(*#(&$$^$&#(#&#%# vuvuzela finally fades away from every local pub, pizza shop and landscaping company in America, let's look back on the one cool thing about international soccer: the outfits. Many teams reflect nationalist pride in the "kits" they wear on the world stage (In the Netherlands, Orange isn't just a color, its the royal family's name), so here's my top 5:

5 - Italy
The "Azzurri" actually represents the color of the last royal house of Italy. And it is one of the more easily recognizable on the international sports stage (the red, white and green flag actually dates, in various iterations, to the Napoleanic Era and is more frequently identified with Queen Margherita).



4 - Spain
It just beats the standard Castillian red-and-gold of the Spanish flag.



3 - England
The Three Lions' crest and the Cross of St. George are synonymous with a country most legal American soccer fans associate with the sport.



2 - United States
The US still hasn't fallen head over heels with soccer (thank God), but the away jersey is classically American: in-your-face. For a national team expected to go toe-to-toe with the world's best, this typified the team.



1 - Mexico
There's something about the color scheme that I like: it isn't exactly a mimic of the Californ,..um,..Mexican flag, yet its two colors you don't see every day in sports.