Steven Pienaar Signs with PUMA

The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and Bafana Bafana captain was previously an avid adidas adiZero wearer, but Steven Pienaar has now switched his allegiance to PUMA, the same brand that sponsors both his club and national teams.

The deal begins immediately and puts Steven alongside other prominent African stars including Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon, Emmanuel Eboue of the Ivory Coast and John Mensah of Ghana.

Steven will wear the new and revolutionary PUMA v1.11 football boot, the latest and lightest football boot PUMA have ever developed. Pienaar was very happy with the flexibility and comfort of the boot, which has been designed to enable players to maximise speed on the pitch. He will wear this and following innovations of the speed boot through the next FIFA World Cup and African Cup of Nations tournaments in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

Steven Pienaar said “I am very happy to have signed this deal with PUMA. Having been involved in the South Africa National team kit launch last month I was seriously impressed with PUMA’s commitment to Africa, they have such a strong heritage in African football and their support for this continent is unquestionable. Knowing all this, and having tested the v1.11 which is a fantastic boot, it was an easy decision to sign with PUMA and I am pleased to have done so.”

1. Who is your role model?
A: No one…..my mom.

2. What are your hopes for the new season?
A: To get a starting place in the team, and to finish in the top qualifier for the Champions League. And maybe win a trophy at African Cup or something.

3. What attracted you to Spurs?
A: The way they play, the kind of football they play. And of course the manager played a big role in it.

4. What is it like to captain your country?
A: It is an honour for me to captain the national team and was always a dream for me to become the captain. Thanks to Pitso who gave me the opportunity.

5. You made your debut back in 1999 – what’s been your best ever game?
A: It was against Jomo Cosmos in Cape Town and that was the day that I think I started to show that I deserve a place in a professional league. The thirty minutes that I was on the field, I showed more than some of the guys that have been playing professional football for 15 years.

6. Who is the best player you’ve ever come up against?
A: There’s a few I’ve played against, Cristian Chivu who was my captain at Ajax – he’s at Inter Milan now. I played against him in the Champions League, he’s an unbelievable player. And of course a few of the players that I play with, Sneijder, Modric, are all good players that I’ve played against.

7. What is your favourite football ground to play at?
A: Newlands Stadium

8. You’ve got over 65,000 Twitter Followers – what do you like about Twitter?
A: It’s the only way that you can get close to your supporters and you know, on a personal note that you can speak to them. I think it’s really helping me to communicate with the supporters and understand what makes them happy or not.

9. Who is the best manager you’ve ever worked with?
A: Jan Older Riekerink. He’s my former coach at Ajax – I think he’s still there. He was the guy that taught me everything when I went to Ajax and since then he’s been the one that‘s been the most outstanding manager.

10. What is your first impression of your new PUMA v1.11 boots?
A: A lot of people will just look at a colour first but the most important thing is that it’s a light boot and it’s good for players, you know, with speed it helps you, you won’t feel heavy. Of course the way the boot is designed is that you can play in all weather conditions. You don’t want to wear something that’s heavy, you need something light so you can last 130 minutes on the field. I think the boot is perfect.