Eight students in Manchester have created a great Noke Joga Bonito spoof. They claim creating the spoof, led to them failing their exams!

View the spoof video.

The Daily Mirror today reported that Wayne Rooney is to get a new pair of ’special’ football boots made for him.

Rooney was injured wearing his new Nike Total 90 Supremacy football boots, for the first time. The report suggests that Rooney has been practicing in his football boots at Old Trafford.

The ’special’ football boots, are said to be the Nike Total 90 Supremacy, with modifications to the toe area.

The Mirror claims a ’source’ said “The boots aren’t a different model, just customised to give Wayne added protection but there’s a limit to what can be done”.

Puma have reignited a long standing argument with Adidas. Puma and Adidas both claim to be the first company to manufacture and market screw in studs for football boots.

Puma and Adidas were each founded by Dassler brothers, Rudolf and Adolf respectively (see previous post Adidas V Puma). They parted acrimoniously in 1948, from the firm they managed between them, Dassler OHG.

Adidas, the first screw in football boots

Adidas claim (view Adidas history, wriiten by Adidas), that just before the 1954 World Cup final in Switzerland, light rain turned to a downpour, having a major impact on the playing surface of the pitch. Fortunately for the German side, who were contesting the final with Hungary, Adidas the Germans football boot suppliers, had prepared the first screw in studs and kitted the German side out with long studs. The Hungarians were unable to grip the pitch like the Germans, the Germans went on to win the match 3-2, winning their first World Cup trophy.

Puma, the first screw in football boots

Just this week, Puma have released a statement claiming that they were supplying screw in studs as early as 1952 to leading footballers.

Puma claim they have documents that prove that they were developing screw in studs, as early as 1948. Named the “Super Atom”, Puma claim this football boot was the first manufactured football boot with interchangeable studs.

Puma state that in 1953, a year before Adidas claim the national team used the first screw in stud, FC Kaiserslautern won the German Championship, with seven of its players wearing Puma’s “Super Atom”.

Adidas V Puma

The feud between the two German company’s is fascinating. Having begun back in 1948 and continuing 58 years later.

Adidas are without doubt the larger of the two company’s today, but Puma are giving them a good run of late. Puma will have 12 World Cup teams wearing their shirts this year, whilst Adidas have 6. But, Adidas have the higher profile players wearing their football boots and are also the official sponsors of the World Cup.

Let the battle commence.

This is a great book, that was recommended to me by a reader of this blog, it documents the story of the Dasslers - Get the book Tor!

My top 3 England goals of all time.

1. Geoff Hurst - 1966 World Cup Final, England V Germany.
View Goal

2. Paul Gascoigne - Euro 96, England V Scotland
View Goal

3. David Platt - World Cup 1990, England V Belgium
View Goal

I’ve based this on game importance, skill and the joy the goal brought me (not that I was around for 1966, but it pleased me when I heard about it…..).

Do you have a different top 3?

Arsenal and German no. 1 goalkeeper Jens Lehmann doesn’t like the ball that will be used during World Cup 2006.

Although this could be good news for England, it is likely to have some impact on all of the goalkeepers, which could make for a more exciting spectacle this summer.

Lemann said of this new Adidas ball “It may be good for the outfield players and for the crowd, but not for the goalkeepers,when it rains, it’s going to be very uncomfortable for us. It gets very slippery and flutters in the air”.

The new Adidas +Teamgeist has been designed to improve accuracy and control. It is smoother, as it is made with just 14 panels, which is likely to be harder to catch for the goalkeepers. Every match ball for World Cup 2006 will be unique, carrying
the name of the stadium, the teams playing, the match date and the kick off time of each game.

The ball for the final will also be the +Teamgeist, but instead of being black and white with gold trim, it will be gold and white with black trim.

1 in 7 players at World Cup 2006, are regsitered to an English club. That’s more than any other country in the world, which is a great testament to the quality of the Premiership and the supporting leagues in England.

Chelsea have the most players at the World Cup with 16, Arsenal 16, Manchester United 12 and Liverpool have 9. These are the top four clubs, supplying the World Cup with players.

Englands closest rival is Germany, who will be constibuting over 70 players.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic, only two countries are made up entirely with players, playing domestically - Italy and Saudi Arabia.

This report was compiled by Deloitte & Touche.

Baz has submitted a starting list of England players and their boots - See previous post Football Boots for the England Team.

Defenders

Sol Campbell - Adidas football boots - F50 TUNiT
Ashley Cole - Adidas football boots - Copa Mundial/World Cups might not be contracted
Gary Neville - Adidas football boots - Predators

Midfielders

Aarron Lennon - Adidas football boots - F50 TUNiT
Stewart Downing - Adidas football boots - F50 TUNiT
David Beckham - Adidas football boots - +Predator Absolute
Frank Lampard - Adidas football boots - Predators
Stephen Gerrard - Adidas football boots - Predators

Baz also quite righlty updated me on the Jenas boot - Puma. Thanks Baz.

I’m still quite a few short, if you can help please email me, or drop a comment, many thanks.

The Observer has written a review of some of the football boots on parade at World Cup 2006.

Their pick of the boots on display are the Nike Tiempo Air Legend.

Also mentioned are the infamous boots Wayne Rooney was wearing for the first time when he broke his metatarsal bone - the Nike Total 90 Supremacy.

Also featured are Nike’s Mercurial Vapor III, worn by Thierry Henry, Lotto’s Zhero Gravity, The Adidas F50 TUNiT and +Predator Absolute, Puma’s v1.06 and the V Konstruct and Umbro’s Owen World Cup X boot II.

Ronaldhino, Roberto Carlos and Robinho - playing keepy uppies… Watch the video.

Thousands of football fans will be dissapointed to hear that Sky will be delaying the installations of some High Definition boxes. Some fans will be receiving delivery during the tournament, others will miss it entirely.

As someone who has suffered at the hands of Sky, I am not surprised. Having owned Sky+ for a few months, I have learned a lesson - don’t rely on Sky+ to record an important game!

Update: The Register have some quotes from Sky.

With Sven’s squad now selected (bar Sven calling up replacemements) and gearing up for World Cup 2006, I though it would be interesting to see which football boot brands the players will be wearing.

Adidas top the league with 8 players, followed by Nike 6, Puma 5 and Umbro 4.

Goalkeepers

Paul Robinson - Nike football boots
David James - Umbro football boots
Robert Green - Umbro football boots

Defenders

Sol Campbell - Adidas football boots
Ashley Cole - Adidas football boots
Rio Ferdinand - Nike football boots
John Terry - Umbro football boots
Gary Neville - Adidas football boots
Jamie Carragher - Puma football boots
Wayne Bridge - Puma football boots

Midfielders

Joe Cole - Nike football boots
Aarron Lennon - Adidas football boots
Stewart Downing - Adidas football boots
Owen Hargreaves - Puma football boots
Jermaine Jenas - Puma football boots
David Beckham - Adidas football boots
Michael Carrick - Puma football boots
Frank Lampard - Adidas football boots
Stephen Gerrard - Adidas football boots

Strikers

Michael Owen - Umbro football boots
Peter Crouch - Puma football boots
Wayne Rooney - Nike football boots
Theo Walcott - Nike football boots

If anyone has the time, i’d love to receive a breakdown of the model of boots each player is wearing - send to Players Boots

BBC and ITV are sharing the coverage of World Cup 2006.

WIth less than a month to go before England’s first game, you may want to view the UK TV World Cup Coverage schedule I have put together and book the important dates in your diary.

The BBC will broadcast England’s first game against Paraguay on June 10th, ITV will be showing the two other group games against Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden on June 15th and June 20th.

The BBC have first choice of which last 16 game they want to show, ITV get to choose the next two, with the rest split evenly. Both channels show the final and the semi-final should England be involved.

The BBC will also be warming us up for the World Cup by showing England’s 2 friendlies:

England v Hungary 8:00pm BBC1

England v Jamaica 1:30pm BBC1

You may want to download the BBC’s World Cup 2006 wallchart (PDF).

Sven has named his preliminary England squad for the World Cup 2006. There are a few surprises in there, Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon, Stewart Downing even Sol Campbell. Most of the tabloid papers in the UK are headlining with Sven taking a gamble. I think “Football Boots Give England a Blister” is a more apt headline.

Both of our leading strikers, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen are huge doubts as they struggle to come back to fitness from metatarsal injuries. My previous posts, ban bladed boots and football boots to blame, have highlighted that football boots could be to blame for the injuries.

I spoke to Greg Lever-O’Keefe, Creative Director at Prior2Lever, the company who seem to be doing most to provide football boots that really are developed for the individual player.

Greg is in agreement that more research is needed in understanding what happens when football boots interact with finely kept playing surfaces. He also believes that professional players need to be better educated about their football boot selection.

When asked his advice Greg said “When running, footballer’s body weight can be multiplied by up to 5 times, with the feet bearing the majority of this stress. Often, professional players choose to wear football boots, one or two sizes too small for their feet, so they can feel the ball. This is an old tradition passed down through generations, with the right advice, players could get the same feel with the right sized football boot”.

Greg also highlighted “Another consideration which is often overlooked is the sock. It should be considered with the football boot and designed to be a layering system to protect, help wick moisture and improve the fit. Some football boot manufacturers contain the shank (the stability provided to the midfoot), in the in-sock and not the outsole. If a player wears their football boots a size or two too small, they may remove the in-sock or replace it with their own, potentially negating the purpose of the in-sock support”.

These points emphasise the need for some serious evaluation of football boots amongst professional players. It also begs the question, are some of footballers injuries a result of greed? By that I mean is it really necessary to wear football boots that are affordable to the public? The only reason they decide to wear football boots that are mass manufactured and available for just over £100 is because of the sponsorship money they receive in return for wearing the football boots.

As an example, Wayne Rooney helps develop a football boot which costs £120. Surely his foot would be better protected in a football boot that has been designed specifically for his foot using the most up to date technology, perhaps even improving his performances on the pitch? He doesn’t because he receives millions of pounds from his sponsor for wearing the mass manufactured boot. What a loss to England’s chances of World Cup victory.

This is doing the viral email rounds at the moment….