After unveiling their centenary away kit weeks ago,the presentation of Inter's new home shirt for the 2007/08 season has just taken place at Nike Town in London's Oxford Street.
The unveiling was attended by president Massimo Moratti, head coach Roberto Mancini, first-team players Adriano, Luis Figo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cesar, Paolo Orlandoni, Marco Materazzi, Dejan Stankovic and Francesco Toldo, and Nike Italy general manager Matthew Cook. The new black and blue strip will be on sale at all official Nike sales points from Tuesday 31 July.
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"This is the home shirt of the Italian champions who will celebrate their centenary in 2008, it's a wonderful and emotionally historic moment for all Nerazzurri fans and also for us at Nike, who are linked to Inter by a sincere relationship of friendship," Cook said. "We were alongside the club in difficult sporting moments, just like Inter were at Nike's side when we went through difficult times. Now we are together on a very special occasion and we can already celebrate the great success of the white and red away shirt. We share the same projects with Inter. We have the same philosophy, which is shown through a collaboration that starts from the first team and continues with the youngsters and the club's many social initiatives."
The width of the black and blue stripes on the new shirt is inspired by the jerseys of F.C. Internazionale's early years, with a retro style neck. There are many, visible references to the centenary. On the club's logo, bordered in gold, is the writing '1908-2008, cento anni Inter'. The same words are reproduced on the inside of the neck. On the outside of the neck is the Milan coat of arms, which recalls the second away shirt. Once again, the look of the shirt has been combined with technique, which for Nike is synonymous with the performance of sports clothing. The extremely light shirt has been made using Nike Sphere technology to prevent sweat buildup and reduce stickiness. The shorts are white, recalling the style of those used by the pioneer players in 1908. The socks are innovative, with horizontal black and blue bands. The goalkeepers will have grey, black and yellow shirts, with black shorts.
Massimo Moratti thanked Nike for their "kindness and the care taken in every detail". He received from Matthew Cook an Inter shirt personalised with the number 100. During the presentation at Nike Town, the contemporaneous presentation on Second Life was shown live on a screen. "It is our duty to communicate without barriers and without frontiers," added Moratti. "This is a new frontier that we face with the same enthusiasm that led us to create the official website over ten years ago. The first, as in the case of Second Life, for an Italian club."
All the Inter players called up by Roberto Mancini for the England tour have been given the afternoon off. They spent their free time at Nike Town. Where the 2007/08 season home shirt, specially designed by Nike for Inter's centenary year, was presented.
Inter president Massimo Moratti spoke to the media following Monday's presentation of the new home shirt for the 2007/08. "The shirt is one hundred percent Inter," he remarked. "It recalls the best moment's in this club's history, and has been produced with care first, and imaginativeness second."
