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A Friendly in Name Only

DonJulio — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:31:25 GMT

A new era vs. a new generation.
Two football nations renewed.
A shared hunger to reach the summit.
A friendly in name only.

Vive Le Football Libre

DonJulio — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:54:01 GMT

A new era inspired by creativity and attacking intent.
A fresh philosophy founded on possession and obsession.
A classic shirt created through innovation and elegant design.
French football enters a new era. The revolution is here.
Vive Le Football Libre.

A New Era

DonJulio — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:43:59 GMT

A new era begins January 17th.

Witness the revolution exclusively on Nike Football Facebook.

Going All Out

DonJulio — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:13:26 GMT

After last night's goal rush, the European stage is set and it's one for the attacking players to exploit.

Pato, Ronaldinho, Robinho and Ibrahimovic will look to continue the trend at the San Siro; Essien and Malouda can add to their goalscoring starts to the season; Ronaldo has the chance to open his account.

At the Emirates, Arsenal can take inspiration from their destructive performance at the weekend; the Gunners will look to the attacking threat of Arshavin and Chamakh.

Will we see another night of goals? Which players will have an impact tonight?

Malouda takes five

akqa — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:24:48 GMT

Football is all about taking the opportunities that get put in front of you. We caught up with French sensation Florent Malouda in Paris and pinged five questions at him to find out what makes him tick.

Q: You’ve got some serious power in your shooting boots. Talk us through the 30-yard scorcher you scored for the Europe All Stars against Man. Utd last year.

A: The crucial thing here is really tight control that allowed me to get my shot in quickly, and this doesn’t give the ‘keeper time to react. I gave the ball a bit of outswing so it goes away from the ‘keeper and pretty close to the post. It’s the spontaneity that surprises people, and the speed of the shot that makes it all happen. Training is really important – on the training ground I practice this type of shot a lot. The more you practice, the more precise you get over time – and the more instinctive it all becomes.

Q: You’ve made a career out of providing pinpoint delivery into the box. What’s the secret to the perfect cross, like the one against Club America?

A: It’s all about timing, and making sure that your ball arrives at just the right time for your teammate. Attackers love getting balls that buy them time, so the best attackers love playing with wide men who have an intuitive understanding with them, who can feed them the ball into space before the defender gets to them and give them the 1/100th of a second that they need to make their move – and hopefully score.

Q: What advice would you give a young player who wants to make it to the top?

A: The important thing for a young player who really wants to make it is to have the ability to overcome the difficulties they are going to face, and making sure they are at their best when it matters most. It’s all about practicing your moves and your skills again and again so that you can rely on them when it really counts – during the match.

Q: You have a knack for scoring early in the match. What’s the secret to starting the game so strongly?

A: It’s about being pumped, and really wanting to make your mark on the match and your opposition. It’s about being really focused, so you can take advantage of the slightest loss of concentration from the other team – it could be at the beginning of the game, or just before or just after half-time, and if you’re really focused you can sometimes take advantage…

Q: What do you work on most on the training ground?

A: Speed of movement is crucial to my game – in order to lose your defender and get him off your back, and to get your shot in under pressure. This is crucial, so I work a lot at being able to change direction at speed.

The Challenge

akqa — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:56:36 GMT

How badly do you want to be a footballer?

Sign up for Nike Bootcamp.

Malouda’s Fairground Challenge

akqa — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 11:41:19 GMT

It’s Malouda time. The Chelsea winger tries his luck at the Sanchez fairground. With his blistering pace, accuracy and sheer coconut shy power, the French national star makes light work of the sideshow challenge.