Remembering France’s marinière, the divisive 2011 shirt worn only three times | OneFootball

Fifteen years before this Monday’s pale green away strip, Nike tried a striking marinière for France that never truly bedded in.

L'Équipe notes that the 2011 design, blue and white horizontal stripes evoking Jean-Paul Gaultier, landed as Les Bleus sought redemption after Knysna. Despite a campaign built on sobriety, public reaction was often hostile.

Some pundits compared it to Popeye, others to a generic top or even a convict’s garb. Players lauded it on camera, and coach Laurent Blanc initially called it representative, atypical and classy, before later conceding it was above all a marketing masterstroke and a rather particular shirt.

Many still overestimate how often it appeared. The total was only three, and only once on French soil, its debut against Croatia at the Stade de France on 29 March 2011.

The other outings came away to Belarus in Minsk on three June and to Albania in Tirana on two September in Euro 2012 qualifying, then it vanished. Results were two draws and one win, with goals from Florent Malouda, Karim Benzema and Yann M'Vila.

By late February in Bremen against Germany, France wore a plain white change strip with stripes confined to the sleeves. The switch was presented as more sober, more traditional and closer to the usual codes, whether it stemmed from a federation request or a Nike rethink was left hanging. Sales figures were never disclosed.

Source: L'Équipe