Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
It has been fifteen days since Brazil first kicked off against Croatia, but it may feel like ages ago. If you were one of the dedicated fans who watched every game, that would mean that you sat through 48 group matches. Obviously we have seen both fantastic heart pumping games and games that were slightly less entertaining. Every game so far has provided a few interesting boot spots and we hope to see the trend continue later on into this World Cup,
In what is to be our final edition in our World Cup Boot Recap series, we take you through some of the best spots from Day 15’s action.
Ronaldo Finally Makes An Impact
Going into this match, there was much talk about the different scenarios that the United States, Ghana and Portugal would need for each team to qualify. There were also eyes specifically glued to Cristiano Ronaldo, who hasn’t had the same impact that his loyal fans had hoped for. And with rival players already cementing their names with a few goals, a performance was needed from CR7. Sporting a new hair cut, the Portugal captain came to play, as he saw a shot hit woodwork early on in the game. But the first goal came when Ghana defender Boye had an unfortunate touch which rebounded off his knee into his own net. But Ghana pulled one back from a Asamoah Gyan (who was sporting a pair of Puma evoPower Tricks) header.
Portugal had the game winner through Ronaldo, who made no mistake when the ball fell to him in front of Ghana’s goal. Unfortunately for Portugal, their win was not enough as the United States qualified through goal difference in the tiebreaker. That means that Nike will be missing two key players – Pepe and Ronaldo who wear the Tiempo and a customized Superfly respectively. Ghana forward Jordan Ayew was also sporting a Mercurial Fast Forward ’98 edition.
United States Win By Losing
Ahead of the Germany-United States clash, there was a little concern over the rainfall in Recife. So for the players, the wise decision would be to wear soft ground versions of their boots. Surprisingly, there were still a decent number of players sticking to the firm ground versions. Thomas Mueller had the lone goal for Germany in a pair of battle pack F50s, as he finished when a ball fell to him after being punched out. Kyle Beckerman has been wearing a pair of Magista Obra in this World Cup, and it’s an interesting choice for the hard hitting midfielder. He always seems to do the dirty work in the midfield so I’m a bit surprised he didn’t stick with his Tiempo’s for this tournament. A player that hasn’t seen the pitch yet for the U.S. is Mix Diskerud. The midfielder recently made a switch into the Umbro Geometra Pro II boots. Hopefully we will see him at least once as he often makes an impact of the bench. Bastian Schweinsteiger was also wearing a pair of leather earth pack F50s that had a customized sole plate which lacked the MiCoach cavity.
Belgium Top Group By Leaving it Late
Belgium has left it late in each of its group games so far. They have scored all four goals after the 70th minute and still won each of their games. The scorer this time was Jan Vertonghen, who finished after following up a Divock Origi shot. South Korean captain Ja-Cheol Koo also made a switch into the Predator Instinct and out of the Predator LZ. Adnan Januzaj wore a pair of Nike Mercurial Superflies after sticking with the Hypervenom for much of his Manchester United season.
Algeria Runner-Ups in Group H
Algeria were runner-ups in their group after tying with a resistant Russian side. Islam Slimani saw a few headers fall to the hands of Akinfeev, but finally pulled one back with a header from a free kick. Akinfeev made a few key saves to deny the Algeria equalizer in the game while wearing a pair of Magista Opus. Algerian keeper Rais M’bolhi had also had a good effort between the posts, making a few key saves. He and his Earth Pack Predator LZs will need to be at his best because they will face favorites Germany in the Round of 16.
Boot Table
Only seven goals were scored on the final group stages day. And believe it or not, the Mercurial Range combined has leveled with the adiZero F50 at 33 goals! Be sure to stay tuned as we will continue to update the Boot Table throughout the remainder of this tournament.
Adidas adiZero F50: 33 goals, -1 own goal (6 Headers)
Nike Mercurial Superfly: 25 goals (3 Headers)
Adidas Predator Instinct: 14 goals (2 Headers)
Nike Hypervenom: 11 goals (2 Headers) (1 Chest)
Nike Mercurial Vapor X: 8 goals (3 Headers)
Nike Magista Obra: 7 goals (1 Header)
Nike Tiempo Legend: 5 goals, -2 own goals (4 Headers)
Puma evoPOWER: 6 goals (4 Headers)
Adidas Nitrocharge: 2 goals
Puma evoSPEED: 2 goals (1 Header)
Warrior Superheat: 2 goals (1 Header)
Nike Vapor IX: 2 goal
Mizuno Wave Ignitus: 1 goal
Nike Magista Opus: 2 goals, -1 own goal
Mizuno Morelia Neo: 1 goal
Mizuno Basara: 1 goal (1 header)
Warrior Gambler: 1 goal (1 Header)
Nike CTR 360 Maestri III: 1 goal
Adidas Predator LZ: 1 goal
Which match was your favorite from today? Stay tuned to twitter or facebook to recieve all the updates and interesting boot news from this tournament!
