The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Final
So, Euro 2016 started one month ago in Paris, with a host-nation eager and ready to impress in a stadium full of Frenchies. Now, four weeks on, we are here in Paris with a host-nation eager and ready to impress in a stadium full of Frenchies. An underwhelming tournament which has seen more hype around Joachim Low’s balls, Iceland fans clapping and Russian ‘hard-men’ turning up to the Euros thinking it was UFC 200, concluded with France taking on Portugal.
Portugal had miraculously reached the final winning just one match, the tight 2-0 victory over Bales. Ronaldo didn’t do much until the final group game against Hungary, where he bagged that delicious flick which seemed to prompt him into turning up from then on. France started badly also, scraping through the group games with the help of a few late goals. However, they have since looked impressive after demolishing Iceland (HU!).
This is, of course, the finale of our Adidas versus Nike Euro 2016 football boot battle. Adidas lead Nike 21-16 going into the Euro 2016 final. Nike have Portugal’s Ronaldo and France’s Koscielny, Evra and Payet. Whereas Adidas have France’s Pogba. A clean sheet and Ronaldo goal would probably see Nike win the battle.
Antoine Griezmann had an early header saved well by an outstanding Rui Patricio early on. Shortly after, Dimitri Payet gave his most significant contribution to the final by coming in like a wrecking ball Miley-Cyrus style on Ronaldo. He won the ball but left a lot on the Portuguese, who seemed to twist his leg in the process. After lengthy treatment, it looked as though his Euro final was over. He heroically made it back on the pitch again, but shortly after went down and was stretchered off in tears.
That was by far the biggest moment of a boring first half that only other chance came when Moussa Sissoko shot from distance. On a side note, Sissoko seemed to be intent on charging around the pitch, barging anything Portuguese out of the way while beautifully maintaining possession of the ball at his feet.
The second half was again poor, but a slight improvement on the first. Griezmann, uncharacteristically for this tournament, missed a glorious header. Olivier Giroud missed a good chance as well when his powerful effort was saved by Patricio.
Sissoko’s shot late on forced another great save from the Portugal keeper, and Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the post in the dying seconds when he turned well but scuffed his shot from close range. Extra-time was needed to settle the match.
The first half was uneventful, but Raphael Guerreiro hit the bar with a long-range free kick in the second period. A minute later, Lille’s Eder ran away from the French defence and fired a shot from outside the box. It flew into the bottom left corner, sending their fans and bench into utter delight.
They managed to hold on in the last few minutes, with Ronaldo acting as temporary manager from the sidelines.
As for the battle, Pogba lost a point for his mediocre performance and another for his booking. He was hyped up immensely prior to the commencement of the tournament, but didn’t really live up to the high expectations. This means that Nike need just four points to win and three points to draw.
As tempted as we were to deduct Ronaldo points for his crying antics, that would just be too cruel and we kind of like the guy. He gets no points, predictably. Koscielny and Evra get a point each for the clean sheet in normal time, but equally lose a point each for conceding the goal. Koscielny also loses one for his booking, but gets one for his solid performance.
So it was left to Payet to clinch it for Nike, but the West-Ham man was pretty insignificant in the match (not including, of course, the Ronaldo incident), and does not win any points here.
Adidas
Pogba -2
Nike
Ronaldo 0
Payet 0
Evra 0
Koscielny 0
Overall score
Adidas 19-16 Nike
So it was a close one in the end, but Adidas slightly edge it and claim their spot as the best football boots in Euro 2016. If Ronaldo stayed on, maybe, just maybe Nike would have come back to win it all. But it wasn’t meant to be, and a rather average European Championships ended with a legacy of some dull matches with some extraordinary moments.
At the end of it all, though, Predators beat Tiempos. PureControls beat Mercurials. Adidas beat Nike.
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 12
Oh my word PANIC. There were four matches at Euro 2016 today… Four! We just do not think we are ready for this. But it was a huge day of football. The first match involved a lot of battle players in the Germany side who faced Northern Ireland, who still had a realistic chance of going through, even if they were to lose. Michael McGovern saved early when Thomas Muller went through on goal. He then ...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 11
Today was the day which home nations Wales and England would decide their Euro 2016 fate. England faced Slovakia knowing that they were all but mathematically through to the last 16, with Wales playing Russia. What more motivation did the two need to win today than knowing that wins would send those Russian muppets home? Roy Hodgson changed his side majorly from the team which beat Wales in the pr...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 10
Business time! Two matches played simultaneously. Obviously we can’t be in two places at once, and don’t have the dedication or will-power to record one game and watch it after, so we only watched the most important game. Seeing as though the tournament is being held in France, and the fact you could probably count the number of Romanian and Albanian players on a paraplegic’s hand, we chose to wat...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 9
Day 9 of Euro 2016 was the final day of the tournament where group matches will not be played simultaneously. What does this mean? It effectively means that we are getting down to the juicy, meaty, business end of the tournament. The part where teams can no longer sit back and rely on gaining a point through solid defensive play. No. Teams will have to all-out go for it with the kitchen sink, dish...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 8
Today hosted another three matches in this glorious Championships. No team has taken the initiative and the tournament by the balls and really put in an impressive performance. On show on day 8, were three teams who were fancied to do well at Euro 2016; Croatia, Spain and Italy. Italy were up first, and after never really emulating their famous 2006 World Cup success, they had a real chance to com...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 7
Day 7 at Euro 2016, and it was a big one. We’re going to do something a little different with this one. There may have been three matches, but only one stood out like a Zinidine Zidane headbutt to an Italian. England v Wales, so we will concentrate mostly on that battle. Firstly, though, Northern Ireland faced Ukraine in a match that they could do with winning after their opening-game defeat...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 6
The Russian fans took time out of their MMA schedules to show up to their nation’s game against Slovakia. But they needn’t have bothered. Their team, much like their reputation over the past week, got battered. Marek Hamsik was the star for the Slovaks, and his early volley went just past the post in the opening 15 minutes. The breakthrough came after 32 minutes though, when Hamsik again switched ...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 5
Fifth day of the tournament, and we’ve named it Pepe Day in honour of one of football’s biggest d****. His Portugal side faced minnows Iceland. In the same group, Hungary faced Austria. Sad news, there were only two games today. Good news, those two games produced more drama than the rest of Euro 2016 put together. And while we’re talking about bad news, on an unrelated topic, we...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 4
At last, a day of Euro 2016 without violence! Thank God, just how football should be. And thank God also that Germany weren’t playing again today, so we didn’t get another Joachim Low sex show. Holders Spain were in action first today, with Nike’s Iniesta and Ramos as well as Adidas’ Alba all involved. It was an absolute annihilation by the Spaniards, who dominated the Czechs in both possession an...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 3
Anyone else wake up this morning with an overwhelming sense of disappointment and a banging headache (as a result of trying to deal with that disappointment)? Me too. Kane on corners… No Vardy… We think this may be the beginning of the end for Roy. So expect Hart on all free-kicks and Rashford starting holding mid for the Wales game. But oh well, let’s not reminisce of the past. Today was another ...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 2
Second day of the 2016 Euros, and two of the home nations were involved. But before that, it was Switzerland’s turn to open their campaign against Albania. Fabian Schaer heading in after five minutes following a keeping misjudgement, putting the Swiss 1-0 up. Lorik Cana received two first-half bookings, firstly for a rash challenge and the second one for a humorous and blatant handball follo...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 1
Despite Payet’s incredible display in last night’s opening match which saw France defeat Romania 2-1, the two teams are tied. Koscielny looked uncomfortable at times paired with Rami, but in the end avoided losing points for a bad performance by being more solid in the second half. Evra however, had a shocker topped off with him conceding the penalty, meaning both defenders loose points for the go...[Read More]