Association Football Markets and Brands
Originally, association football boots (soccer shoes, or more commonly soccer cleats, in U.S. English) were available only in black, but in more recent years have become available in various colours such as blue, green, red, white, yellow, silver, gold and even pink. Big name companies such as Nike, Adidas, Umbro and the like have made an impact on the market with record sales. Nike's flagship shoe is the Mercurial Vapors worn by Cristiano Ronaldo, with other versions such as Total 90 football boot worn by Wayne Rooney. German company Adidas are responsible for the Predator range worn by David Beckham, Gary Neville, and Steven Gerrard, as well as the long-surviving Copa Mundial. The entire German national side wore Adidas boots during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. English firm Umbro produce the Speciali boot endorsed by John Terry and Michael Owen. Sunderland defender John O'Shea wears the Concave football boot - it is a company that claims to manufacture the safest football boot out of the current lot.
In recent times, the most successful of these companies is Nike, and their products enjoy great popularity among professional footballers; among Nike's endorsers are two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho, aforementioned duo Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, striker Ronaldo, Wesley Sneijder, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and other popular players. Adidas, which has been providing football boots with screw-in studs to the German national side since the 1954 FIFA World Cup, have made their impact on the modern market by signing big name players as endorsers: players such as David Beckham, former France captain Zinedine Zidane, Frank Lampard, three-time world player of the year Lionel Messi, David Villa, Steven Gerrard and other successful players. Adidas sells with an image of technology and class in their boots which is key to their success. Both Chelsea and Manchester United had enjoyed long kit manufacturing deals with Umbro, but both teams signed recent deals with Adidas and Nike respectively. Lescon brand lately rose in popularity.
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