16 Nike Mercurial Superfly Football Boot Prototypes - During the development of the revolutionizing Nike Mercurial Superfly 2014 Boot, Nike worked together with the world's best players to design the likely most innovative football boot yet. The Nike Mercurial Superfly Boot features the Flyknit technology, included sockliners as well as carbon fibre outsole.
Ahead of the first match of the superstar Cristiano Ronaldo with Portugal against Germany, Nike unveiled a video with the title "Mercurial Superfly: Factory to Cristiano Ronaldo" showing 16 Mercurial Superfly prototypes.
A Nike Mercurial Superfly Prototype from late 2012.
Back in 2010, Nike started the work to revolutionize football boots forever. Four years later, Nike introduced groundbreaking mid-cut boots with Flyknit uppers. During this time, Nike developed the boot from the first sketch to the final product, which is used on the biggest stage during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The players asked for ultimate control and Nike offered the Flyknit technology for the upper. But is wasn't something that they just found out right away. During the development, the Flyknit technology was the only material to offer a barefoot like fit with the stability needed for speed. It came out on top.
Based on the feedback of the pro players, Nike uses cutting edge technologies like 3d printing to experiment and test hundreds of patterns, to optimize the boot made for the quickest players to take advantage of every split second.
Some prototypes do not feature the Flyknit technology, others come without the high top boot design or a strange looking sockliner.
Unfortunately, Nike only released a short video showing the prototypes. Therefore, the picture quality isn't highly resolving.
The last Nike Mercurial Superfly IV Prototypes feature the typical blackout, mysterious boot designs. Those are the boots we see a few months ahead of the release of the final product, worn by the best players in training to share their feedback about the boot.
Only the last steps in the development of the Nike Mercurial Superfly make the boot a final product, to be worn by million players around the globe.
However, drastic changes force some players to wear the more familiar Nike Mercurial Vapor X, including players like Pedro and Didier Drogba.
For his part, Cristiano Ronaldo will wear a customized version of the Nike Mercurial Superfly IV Boot in the match against Germany: Nearly no high-top boot design and a custom soleplate.