Nike Tiempo Legend Timeline
Nike Tiempo Legend Timeline
A look back at Nike's most recent Tiempo series.
The Nike Tiempo is one of football's greatest boots, first launched at the 1994 World Cup in the USA and on the brink of celebrating it's 20th anniversary we're taking a look back at the most recent series - The Nike Tiempo Legend in the lead up to the next Tiempo chapter...
The Tiempo is one of the only football boots that's still as popular now as it was when it first took to the pitch back in '94 and that's down to the way Nike have subtly tweaked the design down the years and that evolution can be seen on the current Legend IV silo. 
The Tiempo Legend story kicked off in 2005 when Nike launched the Air Tiempo Legend which took over from the Tiempo Premier. Ballon d'Or winner and Barcelona's king of showboating Ronaldinho was the lead face for the new generation Tiempo joined by Andrea Pirlo and England's Joe Cole. 
In 2006 the Tiempo Legend II was born and it's the Euro 2008 colourway that stood out for us. Nike launched a special edition range of retro-riffic brown boots, including the Tiempo. The old school looking brown upper combined with the bright blue sole to create a range that encapsulated Austria/Switzerland that summer and a range that got the ball rolling in regards to international tournament limited edition packs.
A year after Spain lifted the Euros Nike released the Tiempo Legend III and if the Euro 2008 Tiempo Legend was a beautiful blend of retro and modern characteristics the World Cup 2010 Legend Elite was a colourful disaster, at least that was our initial reaction. The Tiempo Legend had been installed with a carbon fibre soleplate to reduce weight and take it up to elite level and as with the Euro's, Nike had created a matching range of their silos, but this time it was bright, really bright.
Nike had succeeded in getting their players to visually dominate pitches, the World Cup 2010 Legend may have been slapped pretty hard with the ugly stick but it's the most memorable recent Tiempo and that's job done as far as Nike are concerned.
It feels like the Tiempo Legend IV has been around for ages doesn't it? The Legend IV Elite was launched in 2011 and remains one of the most popular Tiempos of all time. Nike ditched the tongue and design a sleek black and orange boot with a carbon fibre soleplate, you didn't get much change from £300 for the Tiempo Legend IV Elite but that failed to put many players off. 
Another international tournament and another limited edition boot range from Nike, Euro 2012 saw the Legend IV adopt a split white and black colourway with each Nike silo splashed with a coloured heel to distinguish the boot. Nike retained their carbon fibre soleplate on the Tiempo Elite and the boot was worn by a fearless Pirlo chipping home his penalty to help knock England out. The Tiempo was the pick of the Euro 2012 colourways, closely followed by the CTR in our opinion.
So, where are we now? The Nike Tiempo Legend IV is still going strong 2 years after it was first released, which in recent years is a long time for a silo to go without the brand releasing an update. The newest Tiempo Legend was revealed as part of Nike's stealth range across their silos and with the next Tiempo generation now on the horizon will be one of the last boots to bare the name Tiempo Legend IV.
Have you got a favourite Nike Tiempo Legend model? Let us know.
