Introducing the Puma King XL, the relaunched football boot from Puma celebrates 40 years of existence.

There are few football boots that stand the test of time and have an iconic reputation. Football boots that have been adorned by some of the best footballers the world has ever seen, football boots that are as highly rated today as they were decades ago. When you think of this select group of football boots, the Puma King proudly stands as one of the legends in football boots.

Puma King XL

The Puma King celebrates its 40th birthday this year. First introduced in 1968 as the “King Eusébio” to honour Portugal’s legendary Mozambican-born soccer star Eusébio da Silva Ferreira who was the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup.

Over the years, the King became a legend and was worn by legends. The world’s greatest football stars wore the King including Eusébio, Brazil’s Pele, Argentina’s Maradona and Dutch maestro Johan Cruyff.

This month the Puma King will be re-launched worldwide with a limited edition collection to celebrate its 40th birthday and will be worn on-field at Euro 2008 by Italy’s Massimo Oddo and Germany’s Thomas Hitzlsperger.

The Puma King was born when Eusébio, after scoring nine goals at the 1966 World Cup, worked with Puma to develop a signature football boot which debuted two years later.

It featured increased ankle protection, soft, subtle leather and exceptional ball control. The appeal of the Puma King and the marketing around it was so powerful that consumers were no longer purchasing just a product - but a state of mind and a sporting image as well.

Worn by Eusébio, Pele, Maradona and Cruyff, the football boot became synonymous with reliability and success, selling millions of pairs over the past four decades.

The Puma King will be relaunched worldwide in May and the limited edition Puma line will be available in a special Rio red colourway with gold trim inspired by ruby, the traditional 40th wedding anniversary gift.

The Rio red colour is also seen in the national flag of Portugal, the country Eusébio represented at the World Cup. The special collection will be printed with the years “1968-2008″ under the iconic King logo to recognize the 40th anniversary of the Puma King.

For the traditionalists amongst you the black-white King collection will arrive in stores one month later. The football boots will feature MCMLXVII logo on the sole.

Puma King XL Tech Spec

The Puma King XL (XL stands for Roman numeral “40″) football boot stands for quality, heritage and tradition. The newest edition includes classic lines and traditional styling, but with updated materials, enhanced features and new design details.

With raised bead line, toe overlay and lateral stability insert inspired by the Eusébio boot 40 years ago, the new King XL is executed with today’s best production technology. Super-soft, ultra-thin full-grain leather is complemented by a high-density silicon heel counter and conical firm ground stud construction for optimal stability and maneuverability.

The upper is embossed with a leaping cat logo on the vamp and King logo on the lateral side - with the limited edition version featuring the “Eusébio 68″ signature.

The limited edition collection football boots will launch in selected stores May 29, 2008 with the traditional black-white products hitting retailers globally on June 28, 2008.