Why didn't Donnarumma wear a special jersey?

The Italian national team competed in the two Nations League matches last week in the jersey produced by adidas to mark the 125th anniversary of the federation, which delighted fans and collectors alike and sold out immediately. However, the white jersey with gold detailing and retro styling was reserved exclusively for the movement players, while the goalkeeper's jersey remained the standard jersey used by the national team after the switch to the new technical sponsor. So while his teammates wore the festive jersey, Donnarumma, who was in goal for the two matches against Spain and the Netherlands, played first in the black and later in the yellow jersey.

In fact, in the first match against Spain, Donnarumma wore a black jersey, like the ones worn by the expenses in the early post-war period. This maintained stylistic consistency, but lacked the detail that made the Azzurri jersey so special. In fact, the goalkeeper jerseys had a different template and different details, which led to dissonance whenever Italy had to defend in the penalty area, with the nostalgic effect fading immediately. While the movement jersey had indeed been modified for the pitch and complied with UEFA rules, with the three stripes not running down the entire sleeve but stopping at the shoulders, the goalkeeper's jersey had them instead across the entire sleeve. In addition, the difference between the collars, one with a round neck and the other with more pronounced piping, created an unattractive contrast between the blue players on the pitch.

We will never know why adidas did not think to include a goalkeeper's jersey in this project, whether there were no jerseys to draw inspiration from, or whether there was no time to design a new jersey at the end of the season, or whether the anniversary jersey was only intended to be in a white version. We are left with a choice that robs us of a stylistic continuity necessary for such an important launch, and a feeling that something is missing from the entire 125th anniversary collection of the federation. And a choice that shows how much interest in goalkeeper jerseys has waned in recent years after decades of innovative and iconic designs, at least on the brand side, leaving extreme defenders isolated even on an aesthetic level.