Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly

Great news! The Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly is ready for the release. After the success of the Mercurial Vapor IV, Nike are excited to get this latest installment in the range on the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo will be the first to debut the cleats on March 11th, it has been announced. Weighing in at 6.8oz, the Superfly is one of the lightest soccer cleats ever. This is because of the FlyWire technology that Nike use in their construction. Basically, FlyWires run across the top of the boot, acting like weight stabalizers just as the cables do on bridges. This allows Nike to create an extremely light upper.
After the success of the Nike Mercurial Vapor IV range, Nike are sure to be expecting huge sales. Again, like the Vapor IV Berry, the Superfly will sell out fast, and cleats are sure to be in huge demand.
Right now there is an opportunity to pre-order through soccer.com. If you want to get your order in, Click Here.

Manchester United Win Carling Cup

In what was a pretty low key final between two teams with many of their regular starters watching from the stands, it took penalties to find a winner. Alex Ferguson commented after the game that he did not want the game to go to extra time, just as his Tottenham counterpart Harry Redknapp would not have wanted the extra playing time with both having big Premier League games on Wednesday night.

As it turns out, Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster proved to be the Man of the Match, and the game winner with his performance and save off the first penalty. It was Jamie O' Hara who agonizingly saw Foster dive to his left and palm the ball away from goal on Spurs first spot kick. Anderson stepped up to score the winning penalty after David Bentley had stroked his penalty low and wide of Fosters goal. Stars such as Wayne Rooney and Dmitar Berbatov for Manchester United, and Wilson Palacios, Robbie Keane and Jonathan Woodgate had to watch the cup from the sideline, spectators! The game never opened up with little opportunities for either side, Ronaldo's shot that hit the post the closest either team came to winning.

One issue I had with this game, and games that go into extra time in particular, is the substitution rule. Like in any game, 90 minutes should have 3 substitutes for each team. Once these three subs are made, each team should have the option to make one more substitution in extra time. Dawson went down early in extra time for Spurs. He played on but at what cost? Like any player that does not want to let his team down, Dawson played on with the injury. Why not allow each manager the opportunity to make one extra time substitution? Especially since every team going into extra time have tired legs. Its a simple move that could help energize a game late on, and save players from getting unnecessary injuries. Just my opinion, but listen up Sepp Blatter!

Aston Villa Out of Europe!

Aston Villa crashed out of the Uefa cup tonight, a cup that they could have won for this season, against CSKA Moskow 2-0. Martin O'Neill had told the Villa fans on Tuesday that he was taking a makeshift reserve side so that he could save first team legs for the Premier League and their fight for a Champions League spot. And lets be honest, on current form nobody would take that spot from Villa. They have been pretty awesome this season, and would have taken a 5 point lead over Chelsea had they beaten them in their home encounter last week.

My opinion is that O'Neill made the wrong decision. Just as Alex Ferguson did in Manchester United's game with Blackburn last week. If its not broken, don't change it. Even though Man Utd won last weekend 2-1, they lost their glorious defensive record, with Roque Santa Cruz breaking the invincible defense. Ferguson left Van Der Sar out of the team as he was on the vergo of the World Record for consecutive clean sheets. O'Neill needs wins; his team need to battle in every game and get wins, confidence, and even more desire to win trophies. Instead what has happened is Aston Villa are now out of the Uefa cup! All they have left this year is the league, and there is nothing worse than having nothing else to focus on! Come this weekend, Villa have a chance to make me eat my words, and come the end of the season I might look back at this post and be proved completely wrong (and I hope I am, Villa have been one of the most entertaining teams this season) but only ime will tell!

This story from the Daily Telegraph tells it best: English TV abandons coverage of Aston Villa Uefa Cup tie

Beckham and the Powerswerve DB to stay in Milan?

It looks like David Beckham will be staying in Milan after he admitted that he wanted to stay in the San Siro and battle for his place in the England side. After a very difficult time in Los Angeles with the LA Galaxy, Beckham has had a fantastic time in Milan, becoming an extremely important piece of the Milan team. Milan and Beckhams lawyers have been fighting for a full time transfer to Milan, but LA Galaxy held out, looking for a transfer fee of upto $16million. A deadline was set for last Freday night, but AC Milan fell well short with an offer somewhere around $6million. Rumor has it that Galaxy shareholders are holding out to gain back money they invested in bringing Beckham to LA.
My opinion: Beckham is staying at AC. He currently has too much going for him, playing at a great level and looking good for his place in the English side. Beckham has another World Cup in him, and who would not want to play in a World Cup. Add to this the fact that Victoria is now in the Fashion capital of the world, and Beckham will not be back in LA come April!
Beckham currently wears his personalized Adidas Powerswerve DB cleats. Click here for a review of the cleats.

Win Nike Mercurial Vapor IV Berry

If you are interested in winning a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor IV cleats, hop on over to soccer cleats 101 and enter their competition to get your hands on a pair of the saught after cleats. Its pretty tough to get a pair of them anywhere, so this competition is well worth checking out! Click here to find out more.

FIFA World Player of the Year in Nike Mercurial Vapor IV

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Nike Mercurial Vapor IV cleats were given the title of FIFA World Player of the Year today at a star studded event in Zurich. Ronaldo just beat out Lionel Messi to the title after an amazing year which saw the Portugese star score 42 goals and lead Manchester United to the Premier League and Champions League title. Throughout the past year, Ronaldo has sported most of the Nike Mercurial Vapor IV range, including debuting the Pine green version and also the Carbon SL's. In the past few weeks, Ronaldo has been wearing the Citron version, and is likely to wear the newest Charcoal version in a coming weeks. The Nike Mercurial range of football boots are worn by players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Theo Walcott, Robinho and Franck Ribery wear are designed for speed. They have an aerodynamic design and a covered lacing system that provides a better boot-to-ball contact area. The microfibre synthetic upper is thin and lightweight without compromising protection, and gives a great touch and feel for the ball due to it's 'glove-like' fit and second skin feel.

Beckham's Debut and Adidas Powerswerve DB

David Beckham made his debut for AC Milan in Dubai tonight. Milan took on German side Hamburg in a friendly showcase game. Beckham played the first 45 minutes wearing his new Adidas Powerswerve DB cleats. The game went to penalties after the 90 minutes finished 1-1, and AC Milan won on Mathieu Flamini's deciding spot kick. No doubt, eyes will be fully focused on this weekends Serie A game, as Beckham is likely to line up with Kaka, Ronaldhino and Pato. Not a bad line up of stars!

The new Adidas Powerswerve DB have not yet been released. Adidas has upped its position in the battle with Nike for top spot of the Soccer Cleat industry. The DB's have been created with a combination of Powerswerve and ClimaCool technology. You get all the benifits of the normal Powerswerve with an extra bonus! The ClimaCool part comes in as small air pockets, cut out to create extra circulation in the cleat. Adidas tested the movement of air around a runner’s shoe and positioned ventilation ducts in locations scientifically proven to maximize air velocity to the foot Add to this a fully ventilated mesh upper and breathable sock liner, you are ensured of maximum airflow throughout the cleat. Check out the pic of Beckham's Powerswerve DB heel. The 'DB' stands for his name, the 'V' for his wife Victoria. On the right boot Beck's has the Italian flag, while on the left boot he has the English flag. Release date is set for mid-March. Check back for more information on availability.

Captain Van Persie bags a brace in FA Cup win

Robin Van Persie helped Arsenal avoid a potential banana skin in their FA Cup tie with Plymouth today. With so many scalps in todays round of games, Arsenal will be pleased to have won comprehensively 3-1. Van Persie scored the first and third goals for the Gunners. With their dissapointing league form leaving them 10 points off the top, Arsenal will be looking to make the final of the FA Cup for the first time since they won the tournament in 2005.

In todays game, Van Persie was wearing Adidas Predator Powerswerve White Metallic/Metallic Silver/Black. In recent weeks, including his goal versus Liverpool two weeks back, he wore the Indigo/silver/pool version. These are two of three new designs Adidas has released recently.The Powerswerve range is one of the top cleats on the market at the moment, battling with the Nike Mercurial Vapor IV range.The Powerswerve is a very classy cleat, with many advantages over other top brands. For instance, the PowerPulse insole, that has an additional 10grams of Tungsten, adds increased shot power by sending the Tungsten from back to front of the cleat as you swing through.The introduction of SmartFoam technology and a re-designed PowerPulse system gives this boot increased ball spin for accuracy and masses of power when you need it. Weighing in at 11.2 oz. with PowerPulse, or 10 oz. without.

In other FA Cup news, Mark Hughes and his Man City side were humiliated in a 3-0 home loss to Notthingham Forest. Chelsea were held at home 1-1 to a last minute goal by Southend. Premier League new boys Stoke City were beaten 2-0 to lowly Hartlepool United, while Conference side Torquay United pulled off a good 1-0 win over Championship side Blackpool.