Milestones – Adidas Samba Primeknit 2014

Adidas released alongside the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro 2014 a limited edition boot that became the first ever to have a 100% knitted upper. The boot is limited to 150 pairs in the world, and sold out in seconds. Still one of my best looking boots, as the upper is just amazing with the different colors of yarn.

Some interesting stats:

• The upper consists of 1938 meters of yarn.

• Around 137 829 stiches were made.

• The boot weights 165 grams.

Luis Suarez played a game for Liverpool in these Samba Primeknits in 2014.

Thank you for reading!

Milestones – Adidas F50 Adizero miCoach 2012

When the first Adidas F50 Adizero was released in 2010 it left a good impression as many big stars wore the boot in World Cup 2010 South Africa. Players like Messi, Suarez, Bale and Robben wore the boots.

The new Adizeros were available in synthetic and leather. New design in the upper “Sprintweb” gave better stability in high speed. The new upper “Sprintskin” was made of a single layer which minimized the weight. Adidas F50 Adizero weighted 165g.

So the revolutionary about the Adizeros that were released in 2012 was a chip called “miCoach”. It´s a speed cell that was fitted into the outsole of one of the boots. You could download the App and follow your progress after every game or practice. The miCoach speed cell calculated for example the distance covered and top speed.

Thank you for reading,

Toffem.

Milestones – Adidas Predator Powerswerve 2008

Regarded by many as the last proper Adidas Predator made. So what did Adidas change to make the PredatorPowerswerve so good?

Let`s start with the fact that Steven Gerrard said that the Predator Powerswerve was his favorite ever in the Predator range, that says quite lot about the boot. Adidas did also change the original rubber fins to “Predator SMART Foam” to give extra power and swerve. The soft foam reacts to the impact and kind of bounces back the effect straight to the ball.

Adidas did also create a “Power Pulse” system in the innersoles, by adding a chamber to the innersole filled with 30g metallic powder. So when kicking the ball the powder shifts forward in the chamber which increases the power. Adidas proved this in tests and the boot was said to create 3% more force and 8% more swerve than the Predators before. This popular boot was released in 2008 and there were more than 20 different colors available. Biggest stars to wear these were Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Michael Ballack and Daniele De Rossi.

Thank you for reading. More to come as always 😉

Milestones – Adidas F50 Tunit

The Adidas F50.6 Tunit was a big hit in 2006; it felt like everyone had a pair. Unique thing about these boots were that you could customize your boots by changing: 
• Studs, there were three options: FG-studs, SG-studs and HG-studs.

• Soleplate, you could change between lightweight or comfort.
• Upper, there was countless of different uppers available. Even All the 32 nation in
the world cup 2006 had also their own signature Uppers.

The screw in studs held the different parts of the boot together. The boot was usually sold in a huge box including: Uppers, 3 sets of studs, 2 soleplates and a key to tighten the studs. The new upper of Adidas F50.6 Tunit was made of lightweight “adiHex” 3D micro-fibre upper that gave great touch and feel to the ball. Also Adidas kept the lace cover from the earlier F50 range. Only small downside was after heavy use the studs started to get loose and fall off.

The boot was worn
by some of world´s top class players like Arjen Robben, Ashley Cole, Djibril Cisse and Jermain
Defoe.

Thank you for reading and there is much more to come!

Milestones – Adidas Predator Mania 2002

After the Accelerator in 1998 Adidas released Predator Precision in 2000, but they never got the same level as previous model did. So in 2002 Adidas released Predator Mania, which made its debut alongside FIFA World Cup Japan & South Korea. Also everyone remembers Zinedine
Zidane scoring that volley goal in Champions League against Leverkusen. Other big names using Mania was Beckham, Raul, Del Piero etc.  

The boot itself was made in kangaroo leather upper and of course Predator rubber fins to give the ball an extra curve. Adidas made the Mania with far eastern style in mind, which opened new markets in for example Asia. Adidas also added a rubber strap to keep the big red tongue in
place and used a two piece soleplate that reduced the weight. This is a boot that will stay in Adidas history and won’t be forgotten.

Also there was released a big bunch of different colour options!

Thank you for reading!

Milestones – Adidas Predator Accelerator

It is still regarded as one of the best boots Adidas ever produced. The Predator Accelerator was released in 1998 along with the FIFA world cup in France. The boot was advertised by some of the greatest players like Zidane and David Beckham. France won Brazil 3-0 and Zizou scored twice! 

This boot featured a re-engineered TRX outsole, asymmetrical lacing for larger striking surface, the rubber fins sewn into the leather gives a swerve when hits the ball. The boot’s weight about 300 grams and consists of several layers of high quality leather. Also in my opinion one of the few Predators that have a non-clumsy feeling when played in.

Adidas released this boot in four colours: Black/white/red, white/black/red, red/black/white and in a limited edition colourway called Electricity yellow.

Adidas Predator 1994 Fg

The original Adidas Predator released in 1994 was revolutionary in the way it managed to add
power and swerve to the kick thanks to the rubber fins!

It was Craig Johnston back in 1988, footballer from Australia, who was the key man developing
the first Predator. It was his idea to add the rubber fins, he compared it to table-tennis!

These boots became Adidas biggest revolution in history of football boots!

Thank you for reading and stay tuned I will soon write about the “Milestones in football boot history”.

Nike or Adidas?

This is an endless battle between two very succesfull sport brands! We all loved the old school Nike Mercurials and Adidas Predators. I have to admit that I gave up my hope sligthly with Adidas when they announced in 2014 that they would stop making Predator and F50… 

Nike continued strongly with developing the Mercurial range and also creating two new models Magista and Hypervenom. For me the new Mercurial Superfly V, Hypervenom Phantom III & Magista Obra II are one of the best boots Nike have produced in the last years! As I have been wearing Mercurial for most time of my career, I’m happy to see that they are developing the boots all the time.

If the years 2014-2015 were a slight dissapointment from Adidas then they really pushed up things in 2016! Some great boots as the Ace16+ PureControl with laceless technology and X16+ PureAgility to battle as a speed boot against Mercurial!

So both brands are once again seriously compeating of providing players with the best boot options! This is important as competition is the only way to improve your own products.

Adidas F50 development

The Adidas F50 range was a succes for many years. The first boot came out in 2003 with the cool launch colourway black and yellow, remember D.Cisse as a main character in the Adidas advertisment. They were also one of the first boots were you could hide the laces and this way get a better strike to the ball. 

In 2004 Adidas released the second generation of the F50 range for the European Championship, Adidas F50+ with a cool spiderweb design. Still one of the coolest boot designs out there!

2006 became a big year for Adidas F50 as the Adidas F50+ Tunit was revealed along side the World Cup in Germany. First time ever you could customize your boot by changing the upper or the soleplate or the studs! Whole summer was all about the new Tunit. Models between 2007-2009 were quite similiar…

Next boot that has to be mentioned is the first ever Adidas F50 Adizero, released during the World Cup in South Africa! A beautiful boot and very light. The best of all was that you could get them in leather version. I think this model still is one of people’s favourite. Everyone remebers D.Forlan winning the top goalscorer and player of the tournament in WC2010!

And next boot is still the lightest boot ever made, the Adidas F50 Crazylight 99 gram! Revealed in 2014 and later released in limited numbers 299 pairs. Not a durable boot but for sure pushing the boundaries!

Last one is actually not from the F50 range, but some how we could look at them as follower to the old F59 range. The boot is called Adidas Glitch and was released in 2016, only in UK. This boot got no laces and you can change between the inner- and outerskins, also no laces needed! Let’s see when this boot is released worldwide.

Thank you for reading!

Adidas F50 Adizero match worn “Benz9”

Last week I recieved these, for me this is a milestone! As some of you might know I got two football players that I admire: Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema. To own a boot worn by your idol is huge!

(Don’t know the owner of the picture above, but if any of you recognice it please let me know)

Both of the boots got “Benz 9” printed on the heel. I’m also happy that these specific boots are the first edition of the Adidas F50 Adizero range and in the cool white/black/pink colourway.

Benzema is wearing 9uk 9.5us 43 1/3EU sized boots, if anyone wondered. I actually got another pair coming and hope I would someday afford a pair of Zidane match worn boots.