Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
Wow, what a day! We have officially concluded Day 2 of the biggest tournament in the World, and boy has it been a good one so far. Three games were played on what seemed to be a rainy day in Brazil, and many boots were on show. In fact, it was one of the more interesting days for boots, with some surprise decisions by some key players. So stick with us as we take you through some of the important headlines in our second edition of our exclusive World Cup Boot Recap!
If you missed our debut edition- you can find it here.
Smaller Brands Take The Stage
Yesterday’s match between Brazil and Croatia seemed to only consist of Nike and Adidas boots. In fact, the only brands outside of those two were Mizuno and Warrior (Worn by Hulk and Jelavic). But today we were treated to the exact opposite, a grand display of many other brands which include Concord, Umbro, Under Armour and Warrior. Concord saw the pitch as José Vázquez started and played the whole game for Mexico. Benoit Assou-Ekotto wore a pair of Under Armour Blur Carbon IIIs with a synthetic upper as he played in Cameroon’s loss to Mexico. Umbro was seen being worn by Mauricio Pinilla, who played in an exclusive World Cup pair of Umbro GeoFlare that were released last week. Tim Cahill also wore the Warrior Superheat in the gold colorway and did score the lone goal for Australia.
Puma Debuts
Another brand that was a no-show in the opener was Puma. Obviously, the big cat missed a great opportunity to start of the World Cup strong, but its better late than never and their presence was felt in the first game of the day between Cameroon and Mexico. Players wearing the dual colorway Puma series in the Mexico and Cameroon game included Miguel Layun, Oribe Peralta, Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Samuel Eto’o. Interestingly, Eto’o opted for the Shark Blue colorway instead of the Puma Tricks version. Either way, Puma definitely stood out on our second World Cup day.
Netherland Players Wear Old Colorways
Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij, Arjen Robben, and Robin van Persie all wore old colorways. The pair of centerbacks each wore an older version of the Tiempo Legend V. Robben and RVP both opted for the Solar Slime adizeros out of the Adidas Earth Pack. RVP also stuck with his pair of F50’s with a customized adiPOWER Soleplate.
Nike Opus and Vapor Worn
When the Magista Obra and Mercurial Superfly were released, I questioned whether or not all the professional players would go for the standard cut collar or the ankle collar. Many players wore the Magista Opus and the Mercurial Vapor instead of the high end versions. Although the differences in performance between the two tiers aren’t significant, it is still interesting to see which versions the players prefer. The most notable players opting for the standard cut collar were Sergio Busquets and Pedro for Spain. However, the majority of players were in the high end Obra and Superfly. The most notable in the high end models for Nike were Iniesta, Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez.
Boot Table Update
Yep, we’re back with an update for the Boot Table, which is a running total of the boots used to score. Adding to the scoring system, we will be recording any own goals and we are also keeping track of the number of goals scored by headers so it gives a true reflection of the actual boots scoring numbers. After a day in the hole, the adiZero is back on top, with 3 goals total (-1 for Marcelo’s OG).
Adidas adiZero F50: 4 goals, -1 own goal (1 header)
Adidas Predator Instinct: 3 goals
Nike Hypervenom Phantom: 2 goals
Nike Tiempo Legend: 1 goal
Mercurial Superfly: 1 goal
Warrior Superheat: 1 goal (1 header)
Puma evoPOWER: 1 goal
What are your thoughts on our second day in the World Cup? Do you think you can endure a whole month of this goodness? Let us know in the comments below or find us on Twitter and Facebook.
