Football boots through the ages

The evolution of the Adidas predator

Although Adidas had outstripped its German competitor, new competition was well on its way in the form of Nike, whose mercurial series became an instant hit with most footballers in the 90s, and its 8^th series continues to remain one of the more popular choices among footballers, with Eden Hazard, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic its proud customers.

Of course, Adidas countered Nike’s extremely light yet rigid mercurial series with their own F50 series, and for good measure, they roped in Lionel Messi to endorse them. After all, which other footballer could rival Cristiano Ronaldo’s brand value? The F50 offers players more speed than strength, and nimble footed players subscribe to these boots very readily.

The newly launched Samba series of the F50 complements the themes of the 2014 Brazil World Cup with its vibrant and colourful models, which seem to go hand in glove with the Samba boys. Most football fans will be squealing in delight (not me, I swear) when they see a blur of red, yellow and blue dashing past them, weaving their way through defenders and scoring for their glory of their nation.

The choice of the Samba boys!

Many influential footballers have gone on to launch their own line of football boots, which sell like hotcakes every single time they come out. Since they are the boots that these footballers wear when they play, and since they are the ones they have added their digital autographs to, it adds a personal touch to them. It makes budding footballers feel like they own a part, and an essential part at that, of their idol.

Lionel Messi’s adiZero miCoach III, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Mercurial Vapor IX and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Nike Dare to Zlatan collection are just some of the many collections that have been a great hit with the fans, simply because they bring us one step (or should I say two boot lengths?) closer to our idols.

Even in India, where the popularity of the sport is yet to touch the heights of cricket, every single footballer-in-the-making yearns for their first boots, and the spoilt brat with the fluorescent orange ones continues to make us feel like the Indian football team of 1950, which was barred from participating in the FIFA World Cup only because they didn’t have the financial backing to afford boots.

Youngsters enthusiastically chat about the creative football boot advertisements by Nike and Adidas while tying the laces of their own Nikes and Adidases, before attempting to mimic the moves their idols perform in the said ads, or in other words, attempting to ‘step into their boots’ (yes, I should be hanged to death).

Football boots are a crucial aspect of the playing styles of many footballers, and continue to influence the game of football far more than any other kind of boot in any other kind of game (Don’t even try to argue the case for Air Jordans). Even though I rarely get enough time to play football, I pray to Morgan Freeman every single night to leave the shiny purple Adidas F50s at my doorstep, just in case a Nazi, Henry VIII lookalike decides to challenge me at the sport. Maybe that is overly optimistic on my part, but I suppose we all, one day, have to #Dare[toZlatan].