Two weekends in and we have already had some absolutely marvelous football on our screens, and boy are we loving it. The true contenders are starting to come out of the woodwork, while the not-so-good are starting to grab what they can while the transfer window is still open. But of course, The Instep boot spotting is here to summarise the week that was from the boot world point of view. Boot switches, heritage boots, customized boots, we have it all in this week’s boot spotting! Check it all out below.
James Rodriguez (Real Madrid) – adidas F50 adiZero TRX
Gold boots are normally reserved for the best of the best. Just think of the athletes rewarded with the boldest of boot colourways: Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi. Jimmy Rodriguez is now amongst the esteemed company to have a pair of gold boots made just for him (man, what would have been the odds of predicting that before the World Cup?). The Real Madrid man has been granted the gold boots after securing the Golden Boot at the World Cup, and he brought them out for the first time during Real Madrid’s game against Athletico Madrid in the Supercopa.
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) – Nike Magista Obra
New week, new pair of boots for Christian Eriksen. Despite being in the launch colourway last week for Spurs, he has made the switch to the rarely seen Black/Hyperpunch colourway. With so many EPL players opting for the launch version of the Magista, it seems every game has at least a few players in the Magista doing their thing. Maybe it is time to change that landscape soon with a new Magista colourway…
Eniola Aluku (England) – Umbro GeoFLARE Pro
Umbro have certainly taken on a few hits in the past 12 months or so with some of the athletes they have lost, but they still keep releasing boots that certainly raise an eyebrow or two. The GeoFLARE Pro has been launched in the past 12 months, and Eniola Aluku is rocking a colourway we have not yet seen before from Umbro. We are betting that Aluku is wearing a women’s only colourway for the GeoFLARE Pro, but we love the little bit of camo print coming through on Aluku’s boots!
Christian Maggio (Napoli) – Nike Hypervenom Phantom (Custom)
Now this is certainly a strange boot customisation, but this is something we have seen before. Christian Maggio has attempted to black out the Nike ticks from his Hypervenom Phantoms, but come on, we still know what he’s wearing…and it seems to be all because Maggio is in the middle of switching boot companies. Having worn the Lotto Solista last season, the Italian is trying to be discrete in trying out another boot brand. It is a bit like when Joe Hart taped over the Nike ticks on the Magista Obra during the pre-season, and it is kind of sad to see athletes leaving the little brands to join Nike…
Emile Sinclair (Northampton Town) – Nike Magista Opus (Custom)
NikeiD Magista Opus boots are coming a weekly spot with our boot spotting articles, and the latest effort comes from Emile Sinclair. His Red/White Magista Opus boots match up fantastically with his Northampton Town home kit, but it does beg the question: why are so many athletes opting for the Magista Opus over the Magista Obra, considering that the Obra is almost certainly one of the top 3 boots on the market at the moment. We wonder how Nike feel about all of this, that their top tier boots are not getting endorsed by all the pros…
Nikola Mancino (Casertana) – adidas F50 adiZero TRX
Now it is time for something a little bit retro. Even though we are in the fourth generation of the F50 adiZero at the moment, Nikola Mancino is still hanging on to his first generation F50, and it just so happens to be the amongst the first colourways launched for the adiZero. Launched at a massive event at the Catalunya circuit, Mancino is wearing the very ‘chameleon’ boots that Lionel Messi wore into the 2010 World Cup. Taking a look at the current F50, it is fair to say that boots have come a long way technology wise in those four and a bit years!
Christian Atsu (Everton) – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly IV (Custom)
So this is one way of going all DIY on your boots. Christian Atsu did not seem to happy about how his Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly IVs look, or perhaps how they fit for that matter. The solution? Atsu grabbed the black texta and did a poor attempt at blacking out his boots, and then he grabbed some scissors and cut off a good centimeter or two from the Dynamic Fit collar. The result? Something kind of halfway between Ronaldo’s customised Superflys and a badly blacked out boot…might be worth asking Nike to just customise a pair of Superflys for you son…
Christie Rapone (USA) – adidas Predator Instinct
While adidas boast that they will be releasing 14 Predator boots between now and the end of the year, excluded from that figure are the women’s colourways, and they have some mighty fine Predators to rock too. Carrying on with the ‘Battle Pack’ print, adidas have offered a Silver/Infared colourway that looks refreshingly different. Christie Rapone wore the boots in USA’s win over Switzerland.
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