Home 1994/96
Matchworn by Ronny Rosenthal 14.12.1994 ISR 🇮🇱 : ROM 🇷🇴 1-1
Manufacturer: Diadora
Source: Collector
Disclaimer: This is a blog of cold and pure football shirt facts. I will not write about fictional topics like religion or controversial political issues.
So, let’s cut to the chase:
Ronny Rosenthal!
A name like a Jewish Wild West hero. Although, Rosenthal was never active in the actual Wild West, he was quite a successful gunslinger in the English Premier League, firing his pistols for Liverpool, Tottenham and Watford. He also was the first non-UK player to move to an English club for more than £1 million. While other cowboys were mostly famous for their incredible shooting skills, Rosenthal came to fame because of an incredible miss against Aston Villa, where he only managed to hit the crossbar after he had already sidestepped the goalkeeper (see GIF below).
Beside his club career, Rosenthal was also a regular in Israel’s national team, where he was capped 60 times.
On the 14th of December 1994, in a game against Romania, he wore what can only be described as the most beautiful football shirt Israel’s national team has ever worn and certainly one of the best-looking shirts in my collection.
Stripes, patterns, scribblings, weird shapes, long sleeves, a collar, shiny fabric and a gold-contoured badge – all the ingredients of a perfect 90’s football shirt! There are also a handful of federation badges woven into the fabric, that can only be seen when the light hits it in the right direction.
The shirt comes from the collection of a former Romanian national player who swapped the shirt with Rosenthal after the game.
As befits a gallant gunslinger, Rosenthal drew his weapon (in this case, his left foot) and confidently hit his target, evening the score to a 1-1. And to remind us that even the toughest hero isn’t invincible, his shirt bares some minor “battle scars” that look like drops of blood.
Comments