Germany's 1990 kit returns for Klopp's first game

Club / player

This one's about the Germany national team rather than a single player, though the timing does all the talking. September 24 is the date Jürgen Klopp takes his seat in the dugout for the first time as head coach, and reports point to that night, against the Netherlands, as the moment the DFB brings back arguably the most cherished shirt in the country's kit history.

Brand

Adidas, as always with Germany. The 1990 away kit sits in that small pile of shirts football fans actually get sentimental about: the era of Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann and a World Cup win in Italy that still gets talked about in reverent tones every time a retro drop hits.

Leak or release status

This comes from Footy Headlines rather than an official DFB statement. The outlet reports the kit is set to be worn for the Netherlands fixture, and that a change had to be made to the design before it could go into a competitive match against the Dutch, though the specifics of that alteration haven't been spelled out publicly yet.

Visual description

The original 1990 away shirt is remembered for its pattern rather than a single block colour, part of that late-80s/early-90s adidas run that leaned into busy, textured designs rather than plain shirts with a badge stuck on. Expect the remake to lean into that same silhouette and colourway rather than a modern reinterpretation with the pattern stripped back, which is usually the point of these retro drops in the first place.

Fan reaction

German fans have been asking adidas for a proper 1990 away remake for years, and the timing with Klopp's debut has only sharpened the appetite online. There's an obvious symbolism at play: a manager stepping into the job with serious history of his own, paired with a shirt from the last time Germany's golden generation peaked on the biggest stage.

Our verdict

The retro appeal here does the heavy lifting, and pairing it with Klopp's first game would be a smart piece of scheduling by the DFB, whether or not it's deliberate. The open question is what exactly needed altering before UEFA and matchday regulations would allow it on the pitch against the Netherlands, and whether the DFB confirms any of this itself before September 24. Until then, this reads as one of the better kit-and-moment combinations German football has served up in a while.