The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Friday, July 9

Hi, everyone!

Did you know that Tottenham’s first preseason match is next week?

Ramble of the Day

Just as a pair of international tournaments come to their end, another one is just about to begin. The Gold Cup starts on Saturday, which means it’s time for another edition of kit rankings!

Unlike the Euros and Copa América, kit manufacturers don’t go all out for the Gold Cup. As a result, I decided only to rank kits that were released for this year — some countries will be using old kits entirely, while others will have one new kit and an older one. As always, I’ll provide my top and bottom three.

Let’s begin with the good ones.

3. Jamaica’s away kit

This kit embraces a little bit of weirdness without going too far. The dark green base is wonderful, and the various shades of green mixed with the yellow makes for a nice combination. That pattern probably gets muddier the further away you get from it and probably doesn’t pop on a screen, so it gets points off for that.

2. Jamaica’s home kit

Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images

For whatever reason, it’s a very hard kit to find decent pictures of at the moment but please bear with me. It’s a classic look, and it turns out I’m a real sucker for a simple combination of yellow and green.

1. Mexico’s home kit

Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images

This kit is unique, featuring both an unusual design and an even more unusual color combination. The fact that Mexico and Adidas were willing to mess with the color template earns a lot of points form me. The first time I looked at this kit, I couldn’t stop looking at it. I don’t think it’s an all-timer of a kit, but it grabs my attention every time I see it.

Now, the not so nice.

3. Costa Rica’s away kit

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

I promise this judgment is not the result of trauma from Tottenham’s gradient kit. I don’t care for the shade of blue the white fades into, and the white shorts kill the gradient. The scattered polka dot at the top — perhaps animal print — is too much. I didn’t consider this when I was ranking kits, but it is worth mentioning that I also hate the font picked out.

2. Canada’s third kit

The one thing that Costa Rica kit has going for it is that someone tried while designing it. The same cannot be said for the people who are responsible for this Canada kit. It looks like a t-shirt.

1. Canada’s away kit

Photo by Cesar Gomez/Jam Media/Getty Images

You know what requires even less effort than a plain black kit? A plain white one.

tl;dr: Let the international tournaments and kit rankings continue! Next up, the Gold Cup.

Stay informed, read this: Lindsay Gibbs interviews the Arizona Daily Star’s PJ Brown on covering women’s basketball for a publication that values women’s sports for Power Plays

Links of the Day

The UK will ease COVID-19 travel restrictions so 1,000 Italy supporters and 2,000 VIPs can attend the final of the Euros.

UEFA charged England after fans booed the Denmark anthem and pointed a laser at Kasper Schmeichel.

Atléti manager Diego Simeone signed a new contract until 2024.

Spectators will be barred from the Olympics, with COVID-19 cases rising in Japan.

Transfers: Crystal Palace signed Michael Olise from Reading; PSG signed Sergio Ramos on a free; Orlando Pride signed Jodie Taylor from Lyon

A longer read: Shaista Aziz on how England’s anti-racism stance means she and her hijabi friends feel included in the team’s fanbase for the Guardian