Friday, October 31, 2008

Mourinho Welcomes Attention

The guys at I'm on Setanta Sports have done it again with a parody of Ringo Starr's fan announcement. Unlike Ringo, The Special one welcomes all the attention he can get. No big surprise here.


We here at the office love the show, and would recommend it to anyone.

Oh, and here's Ringo's announcement for a little background.



[TheOriginalWinger]

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Our latest Premier League Offering: Fulham

Normally we like to use this little space here to tell you about new products we got available or new cool stuff we’ve found out (like Kevin Garnett being a Chelsea fan). But, with the freedom of blogging, that’s not the only reason to put something together – like we even needed a reason.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited about our new relationship with the old London football club, Fulham FC, and thought I’d showcase some of their products which just hit our sites, in anticipation of Fulham’s first ever North American club shop—COMING SOON.

With Clint Dempsey on their current roster and having counted on such names as Carlos Bocanegra, Marcus Hahnemann, Eddie Johnson, Kasey Keller, Eddie Lewis and Brian McBride, it's clear Fulham loves Americans and thus this is a great team to support in the Premier League, for those new to the game and looking for a team.

Plus, as you can see, the Cottagers have a cool home kit, made by US-based Nike.

The 2008/09 short sleeve gameday jersey they'll be sporting at Craven Cottage includes raglan sleeve and v-neck line, club crest embroidered on left chest and Nike logo (right chest) with the global electronics company LG as the shirt sponsor (central). Moreover, it's made with NikeFIT performance fabrics designed with a complete layering system to keep players - and fans - comfortable in a variety of conditions.

The Team shorts feature elastic waistband with adjustable draw-cord, embroidered team badge and Nike logo.

And finally the kit can't be complete without the authentic socks, which include Nike logo knit-in the front and are made of 90/10 nylon/elastane for soft comfort and flexibility.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Nike Tiempo Super Ligera: Light and Classy

Why is lighter always better? Does light weight translate to performance in soccer? The fine folks at Nike seem to think so and who am I to argue, seeing as though they did invent Air.

Now, they’ve gone and turned in another marvelously lightweight boot, but no, it’s not another futuristic orange Mercurial Vapor SL that retails for as much as a house. Introducing the Nike Tiempo Super Ligera Soccer Shoes
It has to be light, since ‘Ligera’ means lightweight in Spanish. It’s everything their campaign slogan “Light on touch, heavy in class” says. And it could be added “low on price” as it goes for a modest $134.99.

When will Nike stop, when they make a boot out of clouds? Well, they’re getting there, as the Super Ligeras are 25% lighter than their stylistic predecessors, the Tiempo Legends. If you feel a certain bounce to your game, that would be the kangaroo leather all over the upper, and the TPU (I’ll explain later) outsole will give you that good footing when you come down, dive, or get tackled.

So, with all that lightness, surely it’s going to fall apart, right? No!

Nike swears durability will by no means be compromised (meaning you won’t have to spend $134.99 every month) and have even given the boots, at great personal cost, a rubberized coating around the toe area to ensure it. That ought to make any player feel pretty secure.

And like you would expect from a classically-styled boot, the Super Ligera offers a comfortable fit and excellent touch and feel. So elegant you could wear them with an Armani suit, if you were so inclined. I smell a promo idea.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself: where did Nike think up this outrageously light and classic boot? The answer is below:

Interestingly enough, these boots were created for the Asian market and in particular, the Japanese Bukatsu player. No, I had never heard of Bukatsu either. Thus, I was forced against my will to do some online research and found that Bukatsu means. In Japanese, the word "bukatsu" describes after-school club activities, which are an institution in lives of all high school students.

Therefore, when it came to the design of the Tiempo Super Ligera, Nike was interested in finding out first hand about the needs of the player. Many focus meetings conducted with Japanese Bukatsu groups later, they learned that these players needed — and wanted — a boot that was lightweight and soft. They estimated that players around the world would want similar things. But wait, there’s more: by studying wear tests, it was also determined that there was something else that they needed: durability. And that makes perfect sense, especially with the economy hurting, even in Japan. All the more so that these Japanese bukatsu players play from dawn to dusk, primarily on hard fields made of coarse, packed dirt, which, as you may surmise, are tough on boots.

WARNING: The next paragraph is hard to understand, unless you’re a footy junkie or soccer boot designer, going into specific engineering details (obscure acronyms included) on how they made these shoes. And it sounds really cool.

Designed on a new, Asian-specific footwear last, the Tiempo Super Ligera is wider than your typical soccer shoes (football boots for those outside the USA). It also has an extended throat to give the boot more versatility and variation. By identifying high-wear areas on the soccer shoes that the players used, Nike focused on these areas and screen-printed a layer of Nike Grind on those spots in order to protect the foot and strengthen the boot without adding weight. A gusseted tongue helps prevent irritation by preventing dust and sand from getting into the boot during play. Reflective elements were added in the upper for those games that take place at dusk. No daylight, no problem!

Finally

The translucent studs reveal an inner plate injected with a TPU (Thermoplastic Urethane: It can be fine-tuned for optimal stiffness and is used to make stabilizing outsoles) that provides both strength and structure while imbuing the shoe with a lightweight aesthetic. At the Nike Sports Research Lab (NSRL), players’ motion was examined, and consequently a Longitudinal Flex Groove (LFG) was incorporated. The flex groove allows the foot to flex from side to side (sounds fun), while isolating the fifth metatarsal head (not so fun), where most of the foot’s power originates.

Yes, they’ve thought of everything. Cloud boots are just around the corner.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Support your favorite candidate in a unique way












They fought it out last night, John McCain and Barack Obama on network television. I don’t know who won or lost or earned a point (I’ll admit I didn’t tune in), but regardless of whom the winner was and who wins in November, we can all cheer on our one common patriotic thread: Team USA – while wearing the name of the potential next President of the United States of America. And yes, Palin fans, we’ve made Vice-Presidential candidates jerseys as well.

Vote 2008

Because maybe one day Donovan or Adu will be awarding your Commander in Chief a similar jersey after winning the World Cup. Okay, the likelihood of that happening anytime soon is about as much as McCain winning the Boston Marathon. But it would make one heck of a statement to go to a USA match wearing one of these unique jerseys; and if you’re afraid of stirring up political uproar, buy one of each and give one to your friends, that way every party will be duly represented. Here at World Soccer Shop, we love all parties! If only we could have such harmony in Washington.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Champions League Super Hero Jerseys

Chelsea and Man United played one of the best finals matches in European Cup history in Moscow last season, and we think this year both teams will go deep into the UEFA Champions League competition. That’s why World Soccer Shop is pleased to release the official UEFA Champions League Soccer Jerseys for Chelsea and Manchester United!

Chelsea

Last season’s European runner up are well represented as some of their top stars – Lampard, Ballack, Anelka and Deco have official home and 3rd jerseys pre-made with their authentic UEFA Champions League names/numbers and patch. The names are all lower-case, like the ones they’ve been wearing this season and the numbers include the UEFA Champions League logo. The shirt includes the UEFA Champions League logo patch on the right sleeve, completing a hero jersey any Blues fan would treasure.



Manchester United

The 07/08 UEFA Champions League winners get special treatment here. For the Red Devils, home and 3rd jerseys have been created with many of the first team stars of the famous Double: Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, and Rio Ferdinand have pre-customized jerseys made in their honor, with the same number/letter options we’ve already seen them wear versus Villareal and AaB. Unlike the Premier League letters, these letters include the team crest. But the coolest thing about these superhero jerseys is the patch on the right sleeve. This is the unique ‘07/08 UEFA Champions League winners patch, hard to find anywhere, and only belonging to the team who lifted the trophy on that cold rainy Russian morning of May 21st.