The Asian Cup is in full swing at the moment as teams from the other side of the world are battling it out for the Asian Cup title in the sweltering heat of Qatar. With all the new football boots that have been released so far in 2011, we thought we'd take a look to see what ones are having an impact in the tournament so far!
We came across two interesting Nike spots here. The first comes from UAE's defender Hamdan al-Kamali who was spotted in a blacked-out pair of Nike Superfly II boots. Also UAE's forward Ahmed Khalil was spotted wearing a pair of Nike Vapor III Italy Edition boots as his side took on North Korea. Khalil has always previously worn Vapor boots but it was a surprise to see the UAE forward wearing such a limited edition boot! Nike only produced 250 pairs of the Vapor III boots that were made in celebration of Italy's World Cup triumph back in 2006.
Another good spot comes from Iraq's forward Alaa Abdulzahra who was spotted wearing a pair of the bright yellow Nike Mercurial Superfly I football boots as Iraq took on Iran. Along with the black laces, these Nike Superfly boots sure do look the part! These particular Superfly I boots are still popular amongst the pro's and remain a regular spot across the European leagues.
Another spot comes from North Korea's midfielder Ryang Yong-Gi who was spotted in a pair of Yellow Puma Para Mexico Lite boots that are made from a special ultra-light Kangaroo leather. If you like the look of them, they're a little hard to come by on this side of the world! UAE midfielder Ismail al-Hammadi was also spotted in a pair of bright orange Mizuno Morellia football boots.
From the looks of things, the Chinese players have really taken to the new adidas adizero Prime football boots that now hold to title of the lightest ever production football boot. Weighing 5g less than the 'standard' adizero soccer shoes, the adizero Prime boots are the pinnacle of lightweight speed boots.
From the looks of things, the Chinese players have really taken to the new adidas adizero Prime football boots that now hold to title of the lightest ever production football boot. Weighing 5g less than the 'standard' adizero soccer shoes, the adizero Prime boots are the pinnacle of lightweight speed boots.
With more players taking to pitches in the new F50 Prime boots, we expect it won't be too long before we see them in the major league across Europe. Our friends at adidas have told us to keep an eye out for the likes of Messi and Villa this weekend along with all other major adizero wearers! We could be treated to an exciting boot spotting following this weekends games!
Not long ago on SoccerBible, we showed you images of players such as Arjen Robben testing the 'standard' adizero's featuring a leather upper. It will be interesting to see the comparison between synthetic/leather wearers and adizero/Prime wearers. Expectation from adidas is that Messi, the main endorser for the adizero boots, will be wearing the Warning/Black adizero Prime football boots.
Amongst all the adizero Prime football boots that we spotted, we did manage to find Japanese midfielder, Daisuke Matsui, wearing a leather upper version of the 'standard' adizero boots. We expect this particular adizero to be a popular choice amongst the professionals when they start hitting pitches across Europe. Many adizero players in the EPL/La Liga/Bundesliga currently wear the old adizero model with a leather upper. We expect this to be the natural choice for the pro's that have become accustomed to the feel the leather uppers gives them.
When you're dealing with minor leagues and Asian teams, its not uncommon that you come across an unusual boot spot from time to time. We managed to get a glimpse of a customised pair of white/red adidas adiPURE III football boots as the Qatari national football team warmed up during a training session in Doha. Along with the red laces, we think the colour-way works well on the adidas boots.
Another good spot we came across was Bahrain forward Ismail Abdullatif who was spotted wearing the new white/red Puma v1.10 SL football boots. Abdullatif, who up until recently was a Nike Superfly wearer, has made the switch to the Puma v1.10 SL football boots that now sit second in the rank of the worlds lightest football boots.
With it being the Asian Cup, it's no surprise that Mizuno are making a strong appearance on the boot front. Japanese brand Mizuno are experiencing a growing reputation in the boots world that is gradually spreading from countries such as Japan and China. The Mizuno Wave Ignitus football boots, that were voted SoccerBible Power Boot of the Year, are unsurprisingly making their mark on the tournament along with many players wearing the classic Mizuno Morellia football boots.
As always, let us know your thoughts on the boot's featured. If you've found any more interesting boot-spots from the Asian Cup, email them to us at u2us@soccerbible.com putting 'Boot Spotting' in the subject field.