Shopping: If the boot fits, go ahead and wear it

I Want To Own ... ronaldo's football boots

FROM THE silver ghost subtlety of Asics' Italia GELs to the retina- burning Dayglo yellow Valsport Fluoriclasse, there's never been so many colourways and styles for football boots. Deciding which pair to buy, though, usually comes down to three factors: do they fit?; which players endorse them?; what make - or "label" - are they?

Footie fanatics feel they can capture the spirit of their favourite player by simply purchasing the boot he's paid to wear. The kids ogling the blue- tick Valsport? They'll be Chelsea fans, dreaming they're sprinting in Roberto Di Matteo's footsteps.

The manufacturer's name is paramount: the boot you wear is a lifestyle statement, particularly for those in the twilight years of their parklife. The bloke next to me in the queue at Carnaby Street's football mecca Soccer Scene is wearing a loud check suit and telling his mate on the mobile about his purchase: "No, I couldn't get the R-9s [the limited-edition Nike boot worn by Ronaldo for the World Cup sold out months ago]. I've got a fairly gay-looking pair of Nike Air instead..."

If they were such an affront to his manliness, why did he buy them? Because some urges have more to do with advertising than with aesthetics. Sportswear manufacturers have adopted several TV tactics to market their boots. Nike focussed on fun, with the Brazil team larking about in an airport and on a sun-kissed beach. Adidas opted for the monochromatic swerve and stoicism of Beckham and Zidane respectively. Reebok created a parallel universe in which Dennis Bergkamp and Andy Cole find themselves in dead-end jobs, having missed the opportunity of stardom because they hadn't bought the company's gear.

When it comes to the printed word, however, they all seem to adhere to one strategy: baffle the punter with arcane acronyms and pseudo-technical crap. Take the Lotto Tacto (pounds 89.99 from Soccer Scene), a boot with BFC (biomechanical foot control) and SEC (safe elastic cushioning), both of which sound like aids for the infirm rather than cutting- edge shoe technology. Or the new Nike Mercurial (pounds 100), the uppers of which are sprayed with PU (polyurethane) for added ball control and made not from kangaroo skin (the usual material for top-of-the-range boots) but KNG-100, a breathable synthetic material which retains its shape better than leather and resists water saturation. Or the Adidas Predator Accelerator (pounds 120), which boasts moulded rubber treads on the uppers to maximise ball control and make curling the ball easier; Traxion Outsole Technology, load-bearing blades that increase turning speed (and you thought it was just a glorified moulded stud); and Feet You Wear, an apparently novel concept in which the boot is modelled on the shape of the foot.

These latter two are slugging it out for the title of World's Most Revolutionary Boot. I've always been sceptical about the Predator. The demonstration of their effectiveness in a documentary on their development a few years ago seemed inconclusive. Inventor and former Liverpool striker Craig Johnson's idea of creating a boot with similar gripping power as surfing footwear ended up clumsy-looking cross between a football boot and a Pirelli tyre. I expected the Predator to go the same way as Puma's 1958 ceramic studded boot. Adidas, though, persevered, improving their product in the last four years, reducing the size of the rubber pleats to cut down the weight of the boot.

It's still significantly heavier than Nike's Mercurial, however, a boot which seems to have been designed with one thought in mind: speed. More like a running shoe than a boot, the Mercurial is so lightweight (at 245g, it's the lightest boot on the market) that you feel you're playing in two pairs of socks rather than boots, which is brilliant for sprinting down the wing but something of a drawback when someone stands on your toe in their clodhoppers.

The Nike seems to have an extra yard of speed and the added bonus of still being regarded as the sports label of the decade, despite recent fluctuations in profit margins. The Predator seems like more of a sturdy all-round boot, and Adidas has the attraction of both hipness and nostalgia. My formative years were spent worshipping the three stripes. My first "label" purchases were a dirty-brown Adidas holdall and two of the classic round-neck, three-stripe Ts. The best boot bargain in the world ever, was a pair of Adidas 2000 I bought half price due to a nick in the uppers. The advert for them in Shoot featured a bad line drawing of then England manager Ron Greenwood. After a period in label wilderness, where my tastes swung from Le Coq Sportif to Converse, I was caught on the crest of Nike's wave in 1990, and I'm still addicted. I must have Ronaldo's boots.

But which colour? Stylish black or the more striking blue and black that Ronaldo plays in for Inter Milan? Before choosing, remember: the more exotic your footwear, the greater the expectation will be for you to do something spectacular in them. As one dad told his son as he drooled over a 24-carat Diadora boot: "But you're rubbish. Get gold boots and people will laugh at you."

Shaun Phillips

ARE YOU A STAR?

IF YOU want to learn to play football like a pro, your best bet is to contact your council for details of your local County Football Association. They can tell you about any soccer schools in your area.

Many professional clubs (including those in the premiership) also run summer schools, and it's certainly worth a phone call to find out.

According to the National Football Association, once you've reached 16, you've left it too late to learn from scratch. However, if you want to have a go, your local association coaching representative can recommend a club that has players of a suitable standard.

Failing that, take a leaf out of Pele and Ronaldo's books and jet off to a beach in Rio to try juggling a few oranges betwixt your toes and pick up some tips from the locals.

WHO WORE WHAT

1954: The screw-in stud appeared for the first time, in the soles of the Adidas boots of the winning West Germans.

1966: There's only one Geoff Hurst, and like Jesse Owens in the Berlin 1936 Olympics, he spoilt Germany's party wearing German shoes: Adidas again.

1978: Scots' embarrassment is salvaged by one of the World Cup's greatest goals. After a mazy run, Archie Gemmill beats the keeper with a three- striped flash of inspiration.

1986: As everyone looked at The Hand of God, no one saw that Maradona and Peter Shilton had the same Pumas.

1990: Another year, another traumatic exit. Chris Waddle hits it high and wide of the German keeper...and misses. Chrissie is wearing Asics.

1998: David Beckham kicks out with an Adidas Predator. You know what happened next.

WHICH BOOT?

Perry Conway, Soccer Scene director, suggests six criteria. K-leather: "At pounds 60 plus, you get a good, soft leather boot. A little more and you get K-leather, giving better feel for the ball."

Blades: "People worry about knee injury, and blades spread the weight of the body much better than studs can."

Good stitching: "The biggest problem is that the upper and sole come apart due to water penetration. Most boots are made in Italy where they don't have as much rain as we do."

Flexibility: "A good boot bends at the forefoot, not the middle."

Ankle support: "Some boots have a closed fit so the ankle doesn't move around. Umbro boots are hard to get on, but once you have, it's like a glove."

Tongue flaps: "Five years ago Mizuno started turning the flap over the tongue. Players loved it as it gives a close fit."