Boot spotting: 30th July

The start of the season is getting closer and closer. We are now 19 days away from the start of the new season, and while the Olympic games does give us our football fix for the next few weeks, pre-season friendlies are currently our other form of football sustenance. Not to worry though, Soccer Reviews has picked out the best boot spots from this week’s action, from the latest boots to some of our old favourites from seasons passed.

Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) – Nike CTR360 Maestri III

This week marked the official launch of Nike CTR360 Maestri III, and while Nike did not try very hard in keeping the boot under wraps prior to the launch of the boot, most of the major CTR360 Maestri III athletes have observed Nike’s embargo on the boots. Carlos Tevez finally brought out his new Yellow/White/Black CTR360 Maestri III, debuting them in Manchester City’s friendly game against Arsenal. Considering Tevez wore the Blue/White/Blue CTR360 Maestri II for much of the 2011/12 season, it is surprising to see Tevez jump ship to the new CTR so quickly.

Craig Bellamy (Team GB) – adidas F50 adiZero TRX

The start of the Olympics should provide us with many unique boot spots, but we did not expect to see one from Craig Bellamy. Despite Bellamy ending the 2011/12 season in the Blue/White/Energy miCoach F50 adiZero, he decided to bring out the old Blue/White/Slime F50 adiZero TRX. It is believed that the Liverpool winger has signed a contract with Warrior Sports to wear their boots for the upcoming 2012/13 season, which could explain why he is seen wearing old adiZeros for the time being.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham) – Under Armour 10K Pro Force II

Benoit Assou-Ekotto is known to be open to boot switches, with the full back making a name for himself last season after wearing a Predator adiPower on his left foot and a miCoach F50 adiZero on the other foot. It seems the Cameroonian has again decided to change his footwear, this time for the Under Armour 10K Force Pro II. Coming in with a thin microfiber upper and something UA call ‘Match Control’ on the side of the boot to enhance ball control, it is certainly a interesting power boot…

Ryan Giggs (Team GB) – Reebok

While Reebok has slowly diminished from the football boot scene, there has been one footballer who has stuck by Reebok to this very day. Ryan Giggs has been Reebok’s loyal supporter for much of his career, and has been constantly rewarded by Reebok with boot custom made for the Manchester United winger, most notably the gold coloured RG800 that was released to commemorate the winger’s achievement of 800 appearances for his club. In another big moment for Giggs, Reebok have made some customised Team GB White/Red/Blue boots that we think look fantastic with his kit.

Hassan Hossam (Egypt) – adidas miCoach F50 adiZero

While Benoit Assou-Ekotto has seemingly chosen the Under Armour 10K Pro Force II, he is the man who made it fashionable to wear two different football boots. While it is not as strange as some of Assou-Ekotto’s combinations, it seems Egypt’s Hassan Hossam has caught onto the phrase, wearing the Red/White/Blue adiZero on one foot and the Blue/White/Energy adiZero on the other foot. We wonder how many more athletes we are going to see copying the trend made famous by the Tottenham full back.

Kensuke Nagai (Japan) – Mizuno Morelia Neo

The Mizuno Morelia is an all time classic boot, which is why it was surprising when Mizuno launched the ultra-lightweight Morelia Neo. Despite us loving the Morelia, the Neo was a breath of fresh air for the timeless K-Leather boot. While we have only seen 4 colour ways so far from the Morelia Neo, we have not seen too many players pick up the Black/White/Red colour way. Kensuke Nagai is the first player we have seen so far in the colour way, with Nagai ditching the black laces for some strong red laces.

Abou Diaby (Arsenal) – Nike CTR360 Maestri III

While we have seen many players in the headline Yellow/White/Black CTR360 Maestri III colour way, spottings of the Red/White/Black colour way have been non-existent. It is surprising when you consider a Red/Black colour scheme is something that has been synonymous with the CTR range. Abou Diaby is the first player we have seen wearing the colour way, which we think will provide a very nice match with the Arsenal kit once the season starts.

Ali Khaself (UAE) – adidas adiPure 11Nova

Whenever we see a professional wearing boots other than the top of the range model, we have to include it in our boot spotting articles! We do expect to see one or two lesser known athletes to be wearing budget models of boots, and UAE goalkeeper Ali Khaself is wearing the third tier in the adiPure range, the adiPure 11Nova. Coming in with a full-grain leather upper, the 6 stud configuration gives away that Khaself is wearing the adiPure 11Nova.

Jonas (Valencia CF) – Mizuno Morelia Neo

Even though he is the man behind the new Mizuno SuperSonic Wave III, it seems Valencia CF and Brazil forward Jonas has undergone a rather interesting boot switch, appearing in a pair of Mizuno Morelia Neo boots in a pre-season friendly against Porto. This reminds us of Nasri strangely switching to the miCoach F50 adiZero for one game during the EUROs, but we wonder whether this is a one off event or a permanent fixture from Jonas.

Kelvin Davis (Southampton) – Nike T90 Supremacy

We are always up for a retro Nike boot spot, and it is always great to see a player wearing a T90 before the now famed T90 Laser range existed. Kelvin Davis’ T90 Supremacy boots date back to around 2006 and were the boots released before the Nike T90 Laser. The T90 Supremacy shows how far the T90 range has come in the past 6 years, and while it does carry the T90 name, it does not look to have too much in the way of technology to aid kicking.

Jacopo Mantovani (Renate) – Mizuno Morelia Neo (Custom)

Blackout boots always cause a bit of a stir when it comes to identifying them, and while it is easy to make out the Mizuno logo on the outside of the mid foot in this circumstance, we had a little difficulty in identifying what Mizuno model the boot is. In the end, we will go with the Morelia Neo, due to the heel counter and the clean leather upper. Either way, it looks like a classy boot that we know a lot of people would love to see from Mizuno.

Mohamed Ahmad (UAE) – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly I

The Olympics were always going to throw up some vintage boot spots from little known athletes, and it is always great to have a Mercurial Vapor Superfly I boot spot. Even though they were released several years ago (and some people will be collecting them), we still think the original Superfly I was the best out of all the Superfly series because it did not feature the controversial SenseStud.

That is it for this week’s boot spotting. What was your favourite spot this week? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.