Nikefootball Europe English

Dutch Master

ryangriffin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:08:01 GMT

The whistle blows for a free kick just outside the box. You’re handed the ball. So what’s it going to be? Power or placement?

For Wesley Sneijder, the answer is easy. Don’t choose between the two when you can deliver a killer combination of both.

Give Sneijder a set piece and his brain’s already whirring. How far out is it? How hard is the ball? What’s the angle? The wind speed? What boots is he wearing?

Being one of Europe’s dead ball masters isn’t easy. But when free kick magic happens this often, you know it’s not coincidence anymore. It’s next level skill.

Boot design competition closed

julien.derosee — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:16:01 GMT

When Nike asked you to design match boots for the likes of Carlos Tevez, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Rio Ferdinand and William Gallas, you sure knew how to respond.

More than 15,000 designs later, the cream of the crop have been submitted for some of the Premiership’s biggest stars to choose from when Arsenal and Man Utd line up to face each other on 8 November.

Better keep an eye on your email – if your design gets picked, we’ll be in touch to invite you and a friend to spend match day at the Emirates, where you’ll see the boots you designed in action. And did we mention that you’ll get a pair signed by the player that chose them?

In the meantime, stay tuned to the Nike Football blog to catch a glimpse of the winning entries, or visit Nike iD to design your very own custom boots, and walk away in style.

Start designing

The Manchester Three

ryangriffin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:38:46 GMT

Blistering pace. No-look passing. Sledgehammer shooting. Imagine defending for ninety minutes against one of the best strikers on earth.

Now multiply that by three.

Welcome to the world of the defenders tasked with keeping Manchester United’s striking trio of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez at bay.

And if you thought a strikeforce made up of Portugese, Argentinian and British players would be hampered by communication problems, think again. The threesome’s telepathic link up play produced well over seventy goals last season.

As Wayne Rooney explains, their different cultural backgrounds mean nothing on the pitch. When it comes to football, all three players speak exactly the same language.

Bootcamp delivers

ryangriffin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:21:42 GMT

European champions are made in the off-season.

There aren’t a whole lot of players treading turf who know what it takes to get signed by Barcelona aged twelve, get a call-up to the Spanish national team at 22, and go on to win La Liga, Champions League and European medals before they hit 25.

Andrés Iniesta is one. Now listen up, while one of Bootcamp’s most decorated pros tells you what you should be eating, how you should be training, how hard you need to push yourself to make it happen.

Iniesta’s at Bootcamp. Shouldn’t you be?

He gets the ball, he scores again

ryangriffin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:03:42 GMT

44 years is a long time to wait for a trophy. But it ended with a split
second of hesitation in the German defence. That's all Fernando Torres
needed to score the winner. Spain, and Liverpool, went mad. Take it to the
next level.

¡HOLA! Fernando Calling

ryangriffin — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:22:52 GMT

The Torres Song, in Spanish, is now available here to download free to your
phone as a ringtone. Venga, chicos

What William Knows

julien.derosee — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:02:40 GMT

As he lines up in defence for France’s game against Romania tonight, William Gallas knows he’ll need all his experience and determination to navigate a clear path through the group of death.

But after playing for some of the top teams in France and England, the Arsenal man is a past master at shackling the best strikers in Europe. And he’s far from goal shy himself.

See what Gallas had to say about the joy of big-pressure games, the importance of winning the first ball and why his first instinct as a defender is to counter attack.

Never Say Die is Next Level

akqa — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:06:45 GMT

With 75 minutes gone, Turkey were 0-2 down, dead and buried. Then Arda Turan
cracks in a goal. A lifeline. 87 minutes, Nihat Kahveci scores. And while
everyone else was waiting for penalties, he scored again. Cancel the wake,
book the party.

Scoring For Fun is Next Level

akqa — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:45:52 GMT

You're 3-1 up in the last seconds of the game. You've won the group by a mile.
No-one can match you for points. Goal difference makes no difference.
You could take the ball over to the corner flag and run the clock down.
Or you could be Wesley Sneijder.

What Wayne Knows

julien.derosee — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:22:19 GMT

On May 21, Wayne Rooney will be in Moscow gunning for club football's ultimate prize. If he is to bring the trophy back to Old Trafford, Rooney will need to put into practice everything he's learnt throughout his career. See what the man himself had to say about getting the edge in and around the box.

Wayne Rooney and T90

akqa — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:29:12 GMT

We’ve all seen Wayne Rooney put it where he wants it. Sit behind the goal when he strikes a ball in his new Nike T90 Laser IIs and it feels like you’re in the path of a guided missile.

Then again, sledgehammer shooting doesn’t mean a thing if you’re hitting the stands instead of the stanchion. When Rooney puts his foot through the ball, you can put away your measuring tape and track his distribution in blades of grass, not metres.

The secret? Take a look under the bonnet of his weapon of choice. Rooney has been part of the T90’s evolution since day one, dropping into Nike World HQ to test prototypes and tell the Nike development teams what makes his game tick.

Next Level Accuracy

akqa — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:54:51 GMT

Power means nothing without accuracy. Anyone can kick the ball into the stands at terminal velocity, but only the very best can consistently make the stanchion clang like it’s been hit with a guided missile. As the design and research teams behind the new Nike T90 Laser II boot can testify, no one guides that missile better than Wayne Rooney.

According to Nike Innovation Lead Brian Baker, ‘Rooney has always been the embodiment of the T90 identity… so we brought him to Nike headquarters very early on for some extensive testing and trialling. And we feel this boot is a great personification of his attitude and personality.’ Inspired by the striker’s ‘tenacity and relentless fighting spirit,’ the newest incarnation of his weapon of choice is the product of two years of painstaking research, exhaustive testing and the input of a world–class athlete. All these elements have helped turn the Laser II from the Nike designers’ original sketches into what it is today: the most accurate football boot Nike has ever made.

We’ve all seen Rooney put it where he wants it. In technical terms, the T90’s newly increased sweet spot and V-twin lacing make for consistent ball-to-boot contact. In reality, this translates into one thing: ball distribution that can be measured in blades of grass, not metres.

The T90’s eVent membrane and newly engineered outsole could have been designed specifically for Rooney’s natural habitat – the legendarily damp Mancunian outdoors. Even when sheets of rain are lashing down, the feet inside a pair of Laser IIs are able to breathe whilst staying dry. Bladed studs offer traction and comfort, whatever the elements do to unsettle your game. And yes, football hurts – but not as much as it used to. The Laser II’s reinforced outsole helps support and stabilise the standing leg, making sure that planting your feet at extreme angles and speeds doesn’t mean a loss of accuracy.

A Death Adder’s markings tell you exactly what to expect. As Designer Morgan Stauffer explains, the ‘dark, ominous and sinister’ aesthetic of the new T90 Laser II is punctuated by flashes of colour, likewise warning potential prey that they should prepare to be bitten. Stauffer confirms that the Laser II design ‘was driven by the idea of creating brass knuckles for your feet.’ Like Rooney himself, Stauffer continues, ‘we wanted them to be tough with true grit.’

Newly tooled-up strikers like Rooney and Fernando Torres might be hitting the net like a trawlerman’s catch, but midfield generals Torsten Frings, Gennaro Gattuso and Owen Hargreaves are also kitting up for conflict in the new T90s. While centre backs Carlos Puyol, Rio Ferdinand and Fabio Cannavaro are spreading Laser-guided passes the length of the pitch, even shotstoppers like Paul Robinson are making devastating use of the T90 from their own penalty box.

The guys in the lab have done their bit. Now let’s see what you’ve got.

The T90 Omni Ball

akqa — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:43:17 GMT

The revolutionary T90 Omni Ball provides a 360-degree sweet spot, increased visibility and cutting-edge panel architecture, there’s never been a more consistently accurate Nike ball.