So we’re down to the last eight teams in the Euros 2012 competition. My team is already out of the sweepstake, and although I’m rooting for England, I am taking a closer look at the other teams now, mostly for the kit – the colour, the themes, the styles – not for the players legs.. honest!

We take a closer look into the final eight teams Euro 2012 shirts and kit and give you a bit of background to their origin.

Czech Republic vs Portugal

The Czech Republic kit is made by Puma, it incorporates the colours of the Czech flag, the red shirt with a white collar and blue stripe on the upper chest, under the Czech badge.

The Portuguese will wear their away kit as Portugal’s red home shirt clashes with that of the Czech’s. Made by Nike, Portugal’s away shirt has an all white design with a half-red, half-green cross divided diagonally at the centre to represent the armillary sphere shown on the Portuguese coat of arms.

Spain Vs France

Current World and European championships Spain will wear a shirt manufactured by adidas, that features the red and sunshine yellow from the Spanish flag. A subtle sash runs diagonal across the shirt underneath the Royal Spanish Football Federation crest, which features a gold star above it for their 2010 World Cup win.

The French will wear blue for the quarter final, Nike call the shirt a tribute to the French legendary legacy, it has a subtle two tone hoop effect, with a mandarin style collar and gold trim, the Nike swoosh and French crest has been coloured gold to match.

Germany Vs Greece

Germany have a white home shirt made for them by adidas, it features as a diagonal feature across the chest using the colours of the German flag.

The Greek shirt features the Hellenic cross under the Greek badge, on a blue shirt that has white details and is also produced by adidas.

England Vs Italy

England have for the first time a tonal badge, which is in red, that is matched by manufacturers Umbro’s logo and the collar of the kit, with the shirt drawing inspiration from the flag of St George.

Italy’s shirt is in their traditional blue, a colour adopted by the national team as azzurro, a kind of blue, was in the Italian Regal Family (Savoia) flag, the team are still known as the “Azzurri” despite Italy now being a republic. Puma have included the colours of the current flag, on the kits white collar with green and red piping.

So now you know about the kit, settle down for the quarter finals and let’s see how well England can play.