The England team will wear the least practical shirts out of all the Euro 2012 teams according to research from a top textile laboratory in Sweden.
The Swerea IVF lab was commissioned by the GP newspaper in Gothenburg to look and compare each kit in a number of categories such as how well they breathe, how good they are at drawing away sweat and how difficult they are to pull.
England's Umbro shirts were ranked dead last overall with Swerea judging them lowest in the 'breathe' section while the shirt also performed lowly in the other categories.
The research concluded that the Adidas shirts of Germany, Denmark, Greece, Russia and Ukraine were the best with all five shirts using exactly the same material.
Interestingly, England's Group D opponents Sweden also have their shirts manufactured by Umbro but the material is different and considered better than England's.
Nike also use different material for each of their shirts depending on each association's specific demands.
"No shirt is extremely poor or much worse than any other in each parameter but there are differences between the best and the worst shirts in the test," said Ebba Magnusson of Swerea.
Former Swedish international and now pundit Ralf Edstorm said that the quality of the shirt used can make a difference.
"I myself had a very hard time with the heat during the World Cup in Germany in 1974 and the shirts we used at the time got very heavy," he said.
"It's all about small margins in top football today and such details can be crucial in the end.
"It does not look so good that a British company makes worse shirts for the English than for the Swedes.
"The only parameter in which the Sweden shirt is worse than England's is its durability. That's bad for the Swedish fans who buy it but could be good news for the players as the referees might be more likely to give a free-kick if they see the shirt is torn."
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