Have you ever thought to yourself “what football boots does Pepe wear?” No, we haven’t either. But when we found out that he wore Umbro football boots, we were a lot more intrigued and wanted to see what his personalised Speciali Eternal boots are all about. We live in a society where “fitting in” and following the latest trends is seemingly pivotal to popularity and success. Yet here Pepe bucks the trend of the top footballers signing lucrative deals with Nike, Adidas and Puma. We are not saying that he is not also on a lucrative deal, but his originality must be respected.
So we’ve reviewed Umbro’s Speciali Eternal boots to see how they live up to the likes of Adidas, Nike and Puma’s offerings. We’ll let you know if they’re worth the investment and what the Umbro Eternals bring to the world of football boots.
Are Umbro’s Speciali Eternal football boots worth buying?
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Name – 8/10
Umbro Speciali Eternal football boots
It has got edge. It has got originality. What’s not to like? Whilst we’re not exactly sure what “Speciali” means, we are presuming it’s special in Italian or Latin. We’re too lazy to google translate it so for the purpose of this review, that’s what it means. The “Eternal” part seems just too deep for us. I mean come on, it is a football boot not the lost city of Atlantis. But even so, it fits in well with the name overall, so it gets a thumbs up from us.
Features – 9/10
Umbro Speciali Eternal football boots
The main feature of the Speciali Eternal boots are their pure strength. The leather material that the boots are made from is crucial for their design. It ensures that any contact with the ball, be it a shot, pass or even a strong, collisional sliding challenge, cannot be felt. It gives complete protection. This is particularly good if you’re a player with particularly brittle feet or you’ve damaged your feet before because these boots will help you play with confidence and security.
With the tagline being “forever leather”, it is not surprising that this is the pivotal component of the boot. A lot has been made of the padding that it gives the boot. It adds massively to comfort levels. Touch is also improved, as the energy from the ball can be easily absorbed by it on impact.
Finally, the soulplate include something called Wishbone technology. Don’t ask us why it is called Wishbone, to be honest we have more chance of discovering why people play cricket when they could be playing football on a Saturday than knowing why it has that name. But anyhow, it is significant (the technology not the name) as it really secures the foot in place in a comfortable manner. No need to worry about sliding or jarring when going in for those challenges!
Look – 9/10
Umbro Speciali Eternal football boots
Umbro are typically the ugly one who gets bullied at school just for being ugly. Umbro football boots are not known for their beauty, but these Speciali Eternal football boots are fairly nice. Depending on which colour you chose, the white or black exterior looks stylish and doesn’t seem like you’re trying to get the whole world to notice how “sick” they look with a fluorescent pink or orange colour.
They look refreshingly calm and old school. Umbro have not tried too hard to be current or ridiculously different… Which often comes out over the top. Pepe’s personalised boots are white with Portuguese colours on the heel. The common design is all black, which looks again very low-key yet still striking and intimidating.
It is definitely an acquired taste though. You’re either going to love its simplicity or miss the lack of flamboyance. For us, it is very much the former. It’s refreshing to see this type of boot still available on the market.
Pro Advocates – 5/10
Umbro Speciali Eternal football boots
Unless you are one pony short of a stable, you may have gathered that Pepe is the “big name on campus” for Umbro’s Speciali Eternal boots. As we mentioned, not many other players chose to wear Umbros, let alone these specific football boots, purely down to the fact that other companies can offer more lucrative financial deals.
Other notable football players who sport Umbro are Wes Hoolihan and Wayne Hennessey. In the professional sense, it is highly underrated. Its quality is worthy of many big names but the passing and skillful style of football nowadays calls for boots more tailored to the attacking side of the game – even for defenders.
Value for money – 10/10
Umbro Speciali Eternal football boots
Wowza! Yeah if you want value for money you have come to the right place! It is rare that you can get a top quality boot for such a good price. People mistake this boot, and Umbro overall, as being inferior because they don’t have all of the fancy, modern features that nearly all models have nowadays. Instead, they adopt a more classical style which maybe do not look or seem better on paper, but trust us, they are still elite and can compete with anything Nike and Adidas can churn out the factory line.
Final verdict on the Umbro Speciali Eternal football boots
We like the simplicity of this boot a lot. As a no-nonsense defender myself (yeah, the type who stands on the feet of forwards and is generally an annoying little moose), I really like the non-exuberance of the boot. That is often not considered as a quality, but the Speciali Eternals are straight forward and you really do get what you see with them.
The Umbro Eternal boots are definitely suited for defenders. They won’t help you burn opponents down the wing, or dribble pass four players, but they excel highly in all aspects of defending. The immense strength of the boot means that it will not bend, buckle, tear or deteriorate under the pressure of strong tackles. The tongue enables a clean strike zone when shooting as well though, so it is not entirely about the defensive side of the game.
A really reliable and solid boot all round. You know that purchasing the Speciali Eternals is in no way a gamble and if you are a defender (specifically a centre-back) or defensive midfielder, these should 100% be at the top of your wishlist.
It may not have all of the latest technologies and bundles of innovative new features, but what it is is a great boot with qualities specified to defending. We cannot see a better boot out there for the other Pepes in the world!