Creative Soccer Culture

Global Boot Spotting

It was the battle of the blue corner versus the red corner as Nike dropped their Fire & Ice packs onto pitches this week. Players from across the Swoosh squad were split into their respective sides to go head-to-head, with a few limited edition mavericks thrown in for good measure. Here's who and what we had our eye on...

Isco (Real Madrid) Nike Mercurial Vapor XI

Real Madrid got back to winning ways on Sunday as they beat Las Palmas 3-0 at the Bernabeu. The majority of Nike's Real Madrid players switched into the blue editions of the latest Fire & Ice pack.

Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) Nike Hypervenom 3

With the blue boots representing the 'Ice' collection it was left to players playing for predominantly red teams to launch the 'Fire' pack. Man United's Marcus Rashford was sporting the Hypervenom 3 as his side lost to an Ice wearing Chelsea team.

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) PUMA One 17.1

Manchester City extended their lead at the top of the table by beating Arsenal 3-1 on Sunday. For PUMA, it was all about one man. Sergio Aguero was awarded with an all-gold edition of the One 17.1 boot to celebrate becoming the club's all-time leading goalscorer earlier in the week.

Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan) Nike Magista Obra II

Nike's Fire & Ice pack is made up of fourteen boots in total as the Swoosh rolled both colourways out across their full hi and lo cut collections. AC Milan's Leonardo Bonucci naturally going for the 'Fire' Magista Obra II.

Harry Maguire (Leicester City) Nike Tiempo Legend 7

Big Harry Maguire was representing the Ice Tiempo Legend 7 as Leicester drew 2-2 with Stoke on Saturday lunchtime. Another game with a classic blue vs red theme.

Fernando (Spartak Moscow) Nike Tiempo Legend 7

The final Fire & Ice selection of this week comes from Spartak Moscow's Fernando. The new collection was adopted by the vast majority of Nike's player pool, but we've plucked out Fernando as one of the smartest boot/kit combos – a tactic Nike focused on.

Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich) adidas ACE 17.1

Why did Mats Hummels cut two holes in his adidas ACE boots at the weekend? We'll let him explain: "The holes had no impact. Both toes are a bit injured at the moment. It works that way too. Maybe that will be a new model being developed." Ok?

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Nike CR7 Mercurial Melhor

Cristiano Ronaldo wore a punch of limited edition platinum on the Wembley turf on Wednesday night. Nike celebrated Cristiano Ronaldo winning The Best FIFA Men's Player 2017 award by launching a limited edition take on the Mercurial CR7 Chapter 5 football boot. Ronaldo did get on the scoresheet but it was a night to forget for his side as they lost 3-1 to Spurs.

Yoann Barbet (Brentford) adidas Predator Mania

Yoann Barbet has managed to get his hands on the original adidas Predator Mania Champagne. A collectors item of a boot that was relaunched earlier this year in limited edition style. Top work from the Brentford man. Worth a few quid, them.

Emilio Zalaya (Apollon Limassol) adidas X 16+ Purechaos

Emilio Malaya was wearing the adidas Champagne Pack this week, collection inspired by Barbet's originals. The X 16+ Purechaos was arguably the least popular from the collection that also included an Ace and Gloro option, but all three ultimately played supporting roles to the Predator Mania.

Author
joe.andrews

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