Clash of kit colours in US vs Belgium friendly causes confusion for players & fans

[p]Both teams used the ‌[a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/usa-fuitL4CF/?mid=AkzS6uae"]match[/a] to launch new kit they will wear at the June ‌11 to July 19 World Cup, which is also being held in ‌Canada and Mexico.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/fuitL4CF/"]US[/a] sported a design that pulls directly ‌from the red and white stripes in the American flag, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a] wore their away kit, which was light blue with pink accents.[/p][p][b]"Sometimes you had to look ‌twice, especially if you wanted to play ⁠quickly,"[/b] Belgian winger Jeremy Doku told ‌his national television afterwards. [b]"I would have preferred clearer colours.”[/b][/p][p]American captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pulisic-christian/vTuaEfRq/"]Christian Pulisic[/a] said ​it was difficult to deal with.[/p][p][b]“A lot of times you get the ball and you look up, you can't ​really lock in on something. You only can base it off the colour of the shirt. That's how it works,"[/b] he told reporters. [b]"And ⁠when it's very similar, ​it's difficult."[/b][/p][embed guid="308b2c9a-55a2-457a-ad8d-b1fdc0e7a33b" url="https://x.com/TheAthleticFC/status/2037979491990147541" social-type="twitter" /][p]Belgian television apologised to viewers after the match, with analyst and former Belgian international Marc Degryse criticising organisers.[/p][p][b]“Football is a product that needs to be sold. Everything always has to be better and better, ‌yet they still managed to make the match annoying with the jerseys,"[/b] he said.[/p][p][b]"This goes completely against the whole commercial aspect. This is really unacceptable.”[/b][/p][p]US Soccer said pictures of both jerseys were sent to match referees before the match and at no time did they indicate they felt there was a conflict.[/p][p]Belgian media said on Sunday the fault lay with the hosts, who insisted on playing in their new red and white jerseys, which clashed with both Belgium’s first-choice ‌red strip and also the lighter away kit.[/p][p][b]Both countries wanted to unveil ​their new jerseys for the first time but after becoming ‌aware of the situation, Belgium proposed to play in their traditional red, the reports said.[/b][/p][p]However, that was not an option because the US shirt also contains a lot of red. One solution could have been for the US to play in their ⁠dark blue kit but that did ⁠not fit into their ‌commercial plan, the reports added.[/p]