Be unapologetically yourself. That was the parting line of Mary Earps’s FIFA Best speech in February.
The decision by Nike and other kit suppliers not to sell goalkeeper shirts for this Women’s World Cup is the antithesis of that message.
Essentially, they are saying it’s fine to want to be like Sam Kerr or Alessia Russo or Alex Morgan — but not Mary Earps or Alyssa Naeher or Mackenzie Arnold.
This isn’t just a Nike problem. Adidas are also not selling goalkeeper shirts, while fans outside Brazil have reported struggling to buy a shirt with ‘Marta’ on the back ahead of her sixth World Cup.