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Back from the brink

DonJulio — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:11:00 GMT

They’ve done it. They made it tough for themselves in qualifying, but last night Portugal showed every ounce of their fighting spirit to book a place in next summer’s tournament.

The confidence, desire and determination of the 2006 semi-finalists proved decisive as they scored in the second half to make it 2-0 on aggregate.

No way back for Bosnia. No stopping Portugal. Next stop South Africa.

Ronaldo’s Rebirth

DonJulio — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:58:57 GMT

All hands on deck and all eyes on one man. Every football fan in the world had a thought to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Spanish debut, and it would be understandable for even the consensus world player of the year to be a bit nervous. But if you tuned in for failure, you don’t know this coolest of competitors.

In the 35th minute, with the eyes of the world upon him, Ronaldo stepped to the penalty spot. A deep breadth, a swipe of a sleeve to catch the sweat from his face. Then no hesitation. A bullet barely caught on camera whizzed across the grass and passed the outstretched arms of a goal keeper who even guessed correctly, diving exactly where the ball had been. Past tense, had been. There was no stopping Ronaldo’s perfect penalty strike, and given the moment, perfect can’t pay it due justice.

My expectations are greater than yours

DonJulio — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:25:34 GMT

With Manchester conquered, it’s on to Madrid.

Now the world’s most expensive player has been unveiled before an 80,000-strong crowd, it’s on to business.

For every single screaming fan in the Bernabeu, that means just one thing - snatching the title from Barcelona.

The £80million man is ready to launch his latest bid for supremacy wearing new, personally tailored black Mercurial boots. Don’t bet against him.

Pre-order yours from NikeStore.com

Old rivals, new battle

DonJulio — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:16:32 GMT

When Man Utd meet Arsenal for the first time in Europe’s elite club competition, it’s down to one player to step up and take centre stage.

Who’s going to make a name for themselves?

The History of Speed – Mercurial Superfly

DonJulio — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:08:17 GMT

The pursuit of speed never rests. And just a year after the Mercurial SL blazed through the game, the latest Mercurial boot is tearing into defences.

Mercurial Superfly is inspired by a revolutionary construction method first developed for the world’s leading sprinters. Nike Flywire uses super-light filaments to support to the foot with minimal materials, keeping the weight down and the speed of the world’s fastest players up.

Innovative drill-through studs combine with a 7-layer carbon-fibre outsole to fuse lightweight design, strength and flexibility – giving players the speed and traction to dance through defences.

CR7, the Mercurial’s favourite son, has already made his mark in the Superfly, racing clear to head home against Inter Milan. Add that to his first Premier League hat-trick on his Mercurial Vapor IV debut and his match-winning strike in the Mercurial SL on Europe’s biggest night in Moscow and you understand the power of speed.

The Superfly has landed. Sorry defenders.

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CR7 gets Wired for Speed

DonJulio — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:54:43 GMT

One sight that will send a chill down the spines of Europe’s best defenders – the world’s best player getting to grips with the world’s lightest boot.

Cristiano Ronaldo debuts the Mercurial Superfly as Man Utd look to reach the Quarter Finals of Europe’s elite club competition. But he won’t be alone. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will also be wielding his own Superfly.

Catch the Superfly tonight at Old Trafford.

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The History of Speed - The Mercurial SL

DonJulio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:58:49 GMT

The designers and engineers at Nike HQ had done it before, and in 2004 they were asked to do it all over again. Their brief was as simple and as ambitious as ever: stop at nothing to create the fastest football boot the world had ever seen.

Four years later, the 100% carbon fibre Mercurial SL concept boot made its debut in Europe’s biggest club match, gracing the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo as he rose to head home Manchester United’s only goal in the European final of finals. Debuting the carbon fibre upper with a pink swoosh, Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his record-breaking 42nd goal of the season, helping his team to victory in Moscow.

A carbon fibre plate. An injection moulded outsole. A carbon fibre upper, hand-moulded in Italy. No corner was cut in the making of this boot, no expense spared. As CR7 showed on that memorable Moscow night, the only things getting trimmed were the hundredths of a second it takes the very best players to get to the ball, strike it, and run to their teammates to celebrate a hat trick of European titles.

The History of Speed - The Mercurial Vapor IV

DonJulio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:28:18 GMT

It’s the first rule of working as a Nike designer: never believe those who say you can’t improve on perfection. After years of development work – and the input of Mercurial athletes from R9 himself to the latest brilliant Brazilian – the Mercurial Vapor IV is living proof that the definition of ‘perfect’ never stops changing.

When the seal was broken on Cristiano Ronaldo’s new shoebox in January 2008, you could hear the groans from defenders all over the world. The most in-form player on the planet was hard enough to stop, without adding a new weapon to his arsenal – and it took CR7 a mere 88 minutes to sear his orange peel Vapors into the fans’ memories with his first ever Manchester United hat trick. Five months and 20 goals later, CR7’s boots contained the first winger ever to win the European Golden Shoe, and the seventh consecutive Merc wearer to take the title of English Premier League top scorer.

Everyone knows a boot is only ever as good as the foot inside it. And with the likes of Ronaldo, Zlatan, Drogba, Robinho, Pato, Ribery, and Walcott, all donning the MVIV, it’s clear that this boot is as good as it gets.

The History of Speed - Mercurial Vapor III

DonJulio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:17:23 GMT

The facts speak for themselves: the Mercurial Vapor III took speed to a whole new level. Sleek as a sports car. Equipped with the traction of high performance tyres, for full-throttled changes of direction. Aided by an anatomical heel lock to hold feet moving quicker than ever.

Once the Nike lab had finished with their new baby, the MVIII was a full 0.45m ahead of the average football boot at the end of a 10-metre course. That’s the stride of a defender, the lunge of a tackle – or the handspan of the keeper whose despairing dive is a fraction too late. As R9 proved at the biggest tournament of 2006, that’s the difference between the good and the all-time great.

In his third massive international performance of a career spanning 12 years, Brazil’s Ronaldo overtook every great goalscorer in the pantheon of football by notching his 13th, 14th and record-breaking 15th goal on the world’s biggest stage.

Call it genius, call it ruthlessness, call it sheer belief – whichever way you tag R9’s striking performance, it was just another example of his Mercurial essence.

The History of Speed – Mercurial Vapor I

DonJulio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:40:05 GMT

The original Mercurial caused the kind of stir a shark makes in a fish pond. And with its standard-bearer R9 still ruling the world four years later, the new Mercurial Vapor was the most highly anticipated boot ever to emerge from the Nike Lab – in time for the showpiece event of 2002.

With the world’s attention turned towards Korea and Japan, Terry Gilliam’s Cage Tournament ad offered the first glimpse of Ronaldo’s long-awaited new weapon – and sent chills down the spines of defenders who knew they were about to meet their match.

Never mind the eye-catching haircut – the gaze of the fans never shifted from R9’s feet as he laid down the tournament performance of his career. Eight goals in seven matches. A brace in the biggest final of all. And a record-breaking fifth world title brought safely back to Brazil. There was never any doubt whose name would come out of the envelope when the 2002 World Player of the Year was announced.

While the appreciation of R9’s fans was still echoing around the globe, a certain Cristiano Ronaldo was quietly building a reputation to match that of his Brazilian namesake. He pulled on his own pair of Mercurial Vapors to thump home his first ever Man Utd goal, laying down the warning that giving him a free kick on the edge of the box is like chalking up a free United goal on the scoreboard. It didn’t take long for opposition defences to sit up and take note.

CR7 vs Zlatan: Superfly Face-Off

DonJulio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:35:41 GMT

The lightning-fast feet of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will light up one of the biggest games of the season as two of Europe’s elite clubs clash head-on.

And to give their game an injection of turf-burning speed, CR7 and Zlatan will be the first players in the world to wear the new Mercurial Superfly.

The boot is the product of obsessive design and development over the last 10 years of speed. Revolutionary Flywire technology at the heart of the Superfly make it even lighter and faster – giving both players deadly pace. Never before has the evolution of a boot been such big a part of an athlete’s onfield armoury.

With 15 goals each already this season, CR7 and Zlatan have a total of 30 strikes between them. And from the moment they lace up their Superflys for a double European debut, the race for number 31 is on.

It’s all on the line.

Wired for Speed – the Superfly lands

DonJulio — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:33:48 GMT

Cristiano Ronaldo, Old Trafford, the hush of an expectant crowd. All the familiar ingredients were in Manchester yesterday, but with one big difference: CR7 wasn’t playing. He was unveiling the latest and lightest installment in the Nike football boot dynasty – the Mercurial Superfly.

Here’s what the World Player of the Year, European Player of the Year and winner of the European Golden Shoe said about working with the Nike development team to bring his dream boot to life.

CR: “I give feedback about what I like best, what makes me feel good and things I’m accustomed to. Nike listens to my feedback and they improve the boots each time. This boot is very different to the one I’m using and I prefer these to my old boots. The Mercurial Vapor Superfly is much lighter and helps me attack faster.”.

And of all the boots out there, why is the Mercurial so special?

CR: “Since I was 16 or 17, I’ve always played with the Mercurial. These boots are very different to others – they’re much lighter, but I think the boots are perfect to play in. It is something very special to play with these boots because they are known for being fast. For people to associate speed with my style of play is flattering.”

When 76 000 fans pack Old Trafford on March 11, one thing’s for certain: with debut goals in both his Mercurial Vapor IV and Mercurial SL boots, the world will be watching the clock to see how long it takes CR7 to hit the scoresheet with his latest weapon.

Ignite Your Game

DonJulio — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:00:23 GMT

Four skills. Four Challenges. Four months. One Mission: Ignite Your Game.

Cesc Fabregas, Robinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Carlos Tevez lead a four-month journey to develop the core skills of first touch, agility, close control, and speed—revealing secrets of the small-sided game.

Watch the video and get ready to Ignite Your Game.

Performance built-in

DonJulio — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:17:03 GMT

A player’s boots are his weapons of choice. And they must be perfectly calibrated for deadly finishing.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the NIKEiD BootRoom. See the quality, precision and expertise that’s built-in to the boots of the Premier League’s most dangerous players.

Get yours at NIKEiD.

Love him or hate him. Ronaldo is FIFA World Player of the Year

DonJulio — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:10:20 GMT

Find out what the rest of the world thinks.