When we saw Ronaldo Nazario scoring a goal during the 2002 World Cup finals, wearing those silver and yellow boots... we all wanted to be him - and not exactly because of his haircut.
Well, this 2024 Nike has decided to release an updated design of the boot, of course keeping the aesthetics that made that model something truly special.
The upper's material replicates the properties of natural leather and uses a slightly stiffer version of the Flytouch+ technology that released on the Nike Tiempo. It is also tremendously softer than the synthetic material we had at the time.
The last has been slightly modified and it no longer provides that great feeling of a tight-fit boot we saw in Mercurial, but it is a wider boot. Something that won't make the most loyal fans of the silo fall in love with it, but it will open more people to try the boot out. The outsole is the same that we see in the current model and provides that fantastic grip sensation that we have in speed boots.
In conclusion, this re-imagination of the Nike Mercurial 1 is a blast. It presents a boot with a direct, cushioned and tight touch that brings back the concept of speed we had quite some time ago. There will be very limited units released - and of course they will be available at Futbolemotion next December 9th. Stay tuned because there won't be many chances to wear the R9 Mercurial again.
