Barcelona face Chelsea this evening, many pundits are saying this is a must win game for Barca.

If they want to match their efforts of last year, which saw Barca claim the Champions League crown, Barca must finish the group in one of the top two places. Should they struggle tonight, it would leave a very tricky final game against Werder Bremen, and an away game at Levski Sofia to guarantee progress into the next round.
Much of the weight of responsibility will once again be on the shoulders of the Brazilian super striker Ronaldinho.

Ronaldinho

Pundits around the globe have been discussing Ronaldo de Assis Moreira’s (Ronaldinho) poor form this season. However, he hit back with perfect timing at the weekend, scoring two goals in the clash with Recreativo Huelva, taking his tally to six for the season.

It has been mentioned that a girl named Mariana de Melo is to blame for his poor form. The Argentine glamour model said “Ronaldinho is mad for me, he cannot sleep at night because I’m always in his mind.” More here “Ronaldinho’s WAG Mariana de Melo”

Ronaldinho’s Football Boots

Ronaldinho will be taking to the field this evening in his Nike Air Legend football boots.

Ronaldinho’s football boots are designed just for him. These limited edition football boots come in a gold and white and white and gold colourway.

Ronaldinho’s other personal touch on the Nike Air Legend football boots is his nickname on the insole and the R10 on the tongues of the football boots.

Update: Ronaldinho now wears Nike Tiempo Ronaldinho football boots, see the review here Ronaldinho’s football boots.

After a couple of woeful England performances, the future isn’t looking so bright for Steve McLaren.

But when exactly did his honeymoon period end? Could it have been on his first day at work, at the precise moment that he stepped into the England manager’s shoes? And what was anybody else doing at that historic time?

Imaginary Scenes in London, Moscow, Lisbon, Birmingham and London

Kindly written for Footy-Boots.com by The Village Idiot

Note that this is not a true story. It is made up.

LONDON

As Steve McLaren and Brian Barwick walked down the hall, their feet fell together in time. They had been talking about pension schemes, Health and Safety videos, lunch vouchers and free bus passes, but Steve had taken almost nothing in. He was, in fact, knocked out by the classiness of Lancaster Gate. It was an opulent, modern building with such great attention to detail - little footballs had been carefully embroidered on the plush carpets and all of the womenfolk were gorgeous.
They stopped in front of a heavy oak door.
‘Right, Steve. Here it is. The Lion’s Den.’
‘Oh no. I don’t really want go in there.’ He shot a nervous glance at his new boss.
‘Why ever not?’
Brian pushed the door open and instantly, Steve jumped back, covering his face.
‘Follow me!’
Warily, he opened an eye. The room was actually a huge, state-of-the-art office - not at all what he had been expecting.
‘Your new office, Steve. There’s your desk, your contoured leather chair, an espresso machine !’
Steve poked his head into the room.
‘! a hat stand, there’s the computer, television. Wendy will be able to get you all the tapes of the weekend’s matches. Pens, pencils, crayons. There’s even some of Kevin’s Lego in the cupboard, I think.’ Brian chuckled, then looked at his watch. It was quarter to twelve. ‘So. I expect you have a lot to do then. You probably want to get started. Formations, phone calls, match reviews. We’ve got a press briefing at three.’
Steve nodded. ‘Right.’
Brian smiled encouragingly. ‘I think I’ve remembered everything!’ As soon as he finished his sentence, he clapped a hand to his forehead. ‘Steve! The shoes, the shoes, the shoes. I’ll be back in two ticks.’

_______________________ (more…)

Harry Kewell is swapping his lucrative football boot deal with Adidas, in favour of up and coming Australian brand Nomis.

In 2004, Kewell rejected offers from Reebok and Nike and plumped for an Australian record sponsorship deal with Adidas. His deal with Adidas saw the German brand pay Kewell a percentage of football boot sales, said to be in the region of £1.3 million.

Kewell, beginning his latest comeback from injury, is set to fly back to the UK from Australia, where he had foot surgery. Unfortunately, it looks likely that Kewell will have to wait until March 2007 before he will be gracing the Premiership in his Nomis football boots. That’s due to a combination of foot and groin injuries which have sidelined him since this summer’s World Cup.

Kewell’s change of football boots first came to light during Liverpool’s FA Cup Final against West Ham. Kewell played in a pair of Nomis football boots with the labels cut off to protect his contract with Adidas. During the World Cup his contract forced him to play in his Adidas football boots, but in training, he went back to his Nomis football boots.

Kewell is said to be wearing the Nomis football boots without receiving any sponsorship payment from Nomis.

John Terry, the England and Chelsea Captain has had his limited edition Umbro XAI V football boots stolen.

John Terry is still furious after two men blagged their way into the Chelsea dressing following Chelsea’s victory of Barcelona and stole his Umbro XAI V football boots.

John Terry alerted security as soon as he noticed the football boots were missing, the football boots are unique as John Terry has recently taken to wearing football boots with the tongue of each boot carrying the name of one of his twins.

The two men have been bailed to appear in court next month.

Puma Italia Four Star V1.06 Gold Football Boot

In tribute to Italy winning a fourth World Cup and to take advantage of the fact that Puma were the shirt sponsors of Italy, Puma are launching a limited edition football boot.

Based on their popular V1.06 football boot model, the World Cup football boot is decorated with a metallic gold upper.

The Italia Four Star football boot, is to have just 2006 pairs available, with each pair being allocated a number. It will also be officially sealed in the sock-liner, together with ‘Berlin 09-07-06′, the place and date of the World Cup final against France.

This gold Puma V1.06 comes in a special commemorative blue and gold shoebox, with autographs of the Italian World Cup players. Inside the box you will find a shoe bag and card, celebrating Italy’s unique feat, winning four World Cups.

View the Italia Four Star football boot.

Two teenage brothers may have to quit football, because their feet are too big.

A 13 and 14 year old from South Yorkshire may have to curtail their potential of professional football as their feet are too big.

Centre half Aynsley (14) and goalkeeper Asher (13), both play for Rotherham Boys Under 15’s and want to turn professional. However their future in the game is in doubt because they cannot buy football boots big enough for their feet.

Aynsley, who is 6′ 3″, currently wears size 14’s, but his 8 month old football boots are falling apart. Asher, who is 6′ wear size 13, but his football boots are now too tight.

The boys’ parents have been searching for large sized football boots, but without success. They have been told that UK manufacturers only make football boots up to size 13. Such was their desperation, they contacted Liverpool FC, to find out where Peter Crouch buys his football boots.

The result was not the news they were looking for either, as Crouch receives specially made football boots and a special order for his Puma V1.06 football boots would cost £189.99, at least £90 more than the regular price for these football boots.

The Adidas 7406 football boots are a unique football boot, mixing the ‘old school’ look with the ‘new wave’ performance.

Adidas 7406 Football Boots

Adidas have provided a classic football boot, that fulfils the requirements of many an amateur footballer. The Adidas 7406 is a quality modern football boot, that does not say “look at me”, when worn on the pitch. The classic look is straight out of the 1974 locker room, with the performance technologies of 2006 - 7406. The football boots come in just two colourways - black/white, or white black.

Performance: The 7406 goes against recent trend, the upper is made of calf leather, not Kangaroo, or synthetic. The calf leather still gives a good touch and feel, but is perhaps not so good for preventing water retention. Lacing is covered by the sizeable tongue, which by the way carries an aesthetically pleasing gold stitching finish. Despite being a classic football boot, it weighs in at around 10.6 oz.

Comfort: The glove like fit of this football boot, means the Adidas 7406 excels in the comfort department. The Traxion technology used on the outsole really does aid your comfort, distributing pressure across the whole of your foot. The insole is made of a foam material which is tough and water resistant, again aiding your comfort during play.

Players: Ashley Cole

Price: £66 - £85

Verdict: Durable, efficient and comfortable - what more could you want from a mid priced football boot?

The Adidas 7406 images.

The Football Association has charged Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton after he bared his backside at Everton fans during the 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The 24-year-old has been charged by the FA with improper conduct and/or bringing the game into disrepute following the events at Goodison Park. Barton has until 1800 BST on Friday to admit or deny the charge and his hearing will be held on Tuesday.

Merseyside Police have already confirmed they will take no action.

Barton dropped his shorts after City scored an injury-time equaliser.

He handed his shirt to a young disabled fan after the final whistle but then seemingly reacted to taunts from Everton fans after Micah Richards’ late strike.

He was smiling as he dropped his shorts but the incident took some of the gloss off a hard-earned point for City - a result that ended a run of 10 defeats in their last 11 away games.

Television pictures captured the incident and police spoke to City manager Stuart Pearce about it.

“I did not see it but if anything did happen, we will look at it with an open mind and deal with it,” said the City manager.

“The police approached me afterwards to make me aware of what had happened.

“I am sure the timing of our goal had a lot to do with any over-celebration.

“Maybe also there was the fact that one or two people have been saying things about our away form.”

Everton fans reacted angrily before City keeper Nicky Weaver intervened.

Merseysider Barton has been involved in previous incidents with Everton fans, having had an altercation with a Toffees supporter in Thailand during a pre-season tour in summer 2005, which led to him being sent back to England.

Universities in Purdue and Toledo are applying the same basic sound detection technique seismologists use to measure earthquakes, to indicate that a bone is under stress and a fracture could result.

The concept of this monitor, is to create a device that monitors the formation of very small cracks in bones that lead to hairline stress fractures.

It’s a device that could be worn on the foot and could alert a footballer that they should stop training, until the bone has healed.

There have been several England international players that have broken a metatarsal, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Ashley Cole, Gary Neville and of course Wayne Rooney (Rooney Injury - Football Boots to Blame).

Germany’s Number 1, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, is offering the mysterious note he was seen reading in the World Cup quarter finals with Argentina, up for charity auction.

Lehmann was caught on TV camera reviewing a piece of note paper between each penalty. The note paper contained information Lehmann had researched about the Argentinian penalty takers.

The note caused a great deal of speculation at the time, but will now be used to raise money for charity.

Lehmann revealed after the game, that the note paper contained penalty information of Argentina’s players, which read:

1. Riquelme left high
2. Crespo long run = right, short run = left
3. Heinze left low
4. Ayala long wait, long run right
5. Messi left
6. Aimar long wait left
7. Rodriguez left

Shame Paul Robinson didn’t have this foresight!