There was once a time when you rarely saw a Barcelona or Real Madrid shirt on these shores.
The nearest you’d get were those terrible fake ones that were on sale in just about every shop you passed when on your holiday in Mallorca.
Fast forward a decade or two and every other kid down the park seems to be dressed head-to-toe as a miniature Messi or Ronaldo.
With the expansion of the Champions League, it’s all too easy to get yourself a replica of one of Europe’s biggest teams, so we’ve decided to look further afield to find you your next football shirt.
We’ve scoured the entire continent of South America (by way of an internet search engine) and found six shirts that we’d love to have in our collection.
Boca Juniors
Despite being one of the most instantly-recognisable club shirts in the world, Boca’s home shirt is still something of a rarity over here.
After last year’s offering used a darker, almost-navy blue the Argentine club’s latest home jersey, made by Nike, has returned to the more familiar blue colour.
Image via: bocajuniors.com.arGremio
Another of the more distinctive South American shirts is the one belonging to Brazilian club, Gremio – Ronaldinho’s first club.
Umbro have done a fine job with this year’s shirts, but their home one is truly unique.
ICYMI: the new @Gremio 2016 home and away shirts revealed pic.twitter.com/5Vn18LYRGt
— Umbro (@umbro) January 25, 2016
River Plate
We were never going to feature a Boca shirt and not a River Plate one, were we?
Club Atlético River Plate, to give them their full name, are another of Argentina’s most celebrated clubs. Although there’s plenty of white and red football shirts knocking around in the UK these days, there’s something distinctive about that diagonal stripe.
Image via: www.adidas.com.ar
Colo-Colo
If we’re being honest, 31-time Chilean champions Colo-Colo’s shirt isn’t the most eye-catching.
That said, we like the simplicity of this design from Under Armor.
Despite being one of Chile’s biggest clubs, it’s definitely a shirt that will catch a few curious glimpses.
Image via: www.underarmour.com
Atlético Nacional
Based in Medellin , Atlético Nacional are the reigning Colombian champions.
Nike have produced their latest home shirt, which comes with distinctive green and white stripes.
Photo via: http://tiendaverde.atlnacional.com.co/
Flamengo
Back to Brazil for our final offering. Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, or ‘Flamengo’ as they are more commonly known, hail from Rio de Janeiro and we love the simplicity of their most recent Adidas-made home shirt.
Even though the red and black horizontal stripes make it look like something Dennis the Menace might wear, the lack of a sponsor somehow makes this shirt look extra special.
Image via: http://www.adidas.com.br/camisa-flamengo-1/S12957.html
Are there any South American football shirts that you think deserve a shout out? Let us know via Twitter.
