ATLANTA (AP) — Christian Pulisic lost track of his Belgian teammate during a friendly match when his kit got mixed up.
“That can’t happen. It was kind of weird,” the US star said after Saturday’s game. Lost to Belgium 5-2.
The United States wore a new Nike jersey with red and white horizontal stripes that resembled a waving flag, an obvious homage to America’s 1994 World Cup jersey with red and white vertical stripes.
Belgium wore a new Adidas road jersey with a light colored background called Frozen Blue mixed with pink and black trim. Tribute to surrealist artist René Magritte.
“It was definitely a little hard to tell at first glance which was which. It was almost a 50-50 thing,” American midfielder Weston McKennie said. “So I definitely need a little bit more time on the ball before I make a decision or give a player a touch.”
The U.S. Soccer Federation said the teams exchanged uniform blueprints well before the game, and the costumes were cleaned up by match officials before the game.
Belgium’s home kit is all red, while the United States’ home kit is dark blue with a subtle star pattern and red trim, and will be worn in Tuesday’s friendly against Portugal.
Neither team had alternate jerseys on site to change into during intermission, although the fashion flaw was revealed during the first half.
The decision may depend on the shorts. The United States wore blue and Belgium wore white. Americans wore white socks and Belgians wore blue socks.
Players were not concerned about the clothing aspect of the game.
“I didn’t know until I took my shirt off before the game, but watching the game, I felt like everyone was a little bit shocked,” Pulisic said. “A lot of times when you have the ball in your hands, when you look up, you can’t really anchor anything. You can only base it on the color of the shirt. That’s how it works. And when it’s so similar, it’s difficult.”
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
