2006 Futuristic Boots 
Following the presentation of Ms. Teamgeist™, 2006 World Cup's Wonder Ball, attention now seems to shift somewhat to Ms. Teamgeist™'s most intimate acquaintances, the players' soccer boots.
Renowned Brazilian Squad and Real Madrid striker Ronaldo is reported to have introduced his new shoes, at the start of 2006. The boots he is going to wear in the 2006 World Cup tournament have pompously been named Mercurial Vapor III, by Nike.
So we can now look forward to follow with great delight the courting of Ms. Teamgeist™ by Mr. Mercurial Vapor III (certainly a pedigreed "™," as well, though the news article providing the information failed to mention it), throughout the 18th World Cup!.And, who knows?...the possibility of such an exquisite romance might even inspire poets and songwriters!
It is worth pointing out that Mr. Mercurial Vapor III might be in for great feats! After all, Ronaldo has already scored 12 World Cup goals (four in France, 1988, and eight in Korea⁄Japan, 2002 – see Top Scorers per World Cup and Top World Cup Brazilian Scorers). That is to say, Ronaldo is merely two goals behind German striker Gerd Müller and a single goal behind French striker Just Fontaine, the greatest World Cup goal scorers, to date (see All Time Greatest Scorers).
Both Pelé and Ronaldo come next, with twelve goals scored, each, in the World cups they have contested. But of course Pelé can no longer increase his World Cup goal tally, whereas Ronaldo obviously can (and has, in fact, claimed the record–see All Time Greatest Scorers-2006).
So, you see, if Ms. Teamgeist™ and Mr. Mercurial Vapor III™ get along as well as the prognosis one can derive from the descriptions provided for each suggests, Ronaldo may well break the all-time World Cup goal record, in Germany. For, admittedly, it can hardly be called a feat, if Ronaldo scores the modest sum of three goals, within a World Cup tournament!
Just Fontaine, the French striker, holds a record that is a bit more of a challenge to match or surpass, especially these days: no one has scored more goals than him in a single World Cup! All his thirteen goals were claimed in the same tournament (see Top World Cup Scorers), which is not the case for the German Gerd Müller. But, again, what do we know about the future?...
Ms. Teamgeist™ and Mr. Mercurial Vapor III™ might engage in a passionate, burning, unquenchable romance (or, more properly put, ménage-à-trois), this coming European Summer...and, should it be so, the inevitable by-product will be Ronaldo's breaking of all goal records, and becoming the sole World Cup record holder, whenever the topic is goals!...
The Mercurial Vapor III twins are reportedly the most advanced pair of soccer boots ever produced. They are claimed to be the end result of over two years of design research and development on impulsion, speed and acceleration. Can you imagined that?!... Their manufacturer, in fact, boasts their weighing just slightly over 200 grams – about as much as shoes worn by Olympic sprinters!
The Mercurial Vapor III twins additionally take pride, reportedly, in including an anatomic stabilizer, at the heel, which is supposed to ensure that the foot stays precisely where it has been set, as it makes contact with the ground – thus both enhancing precision and helping prevent injury. Can you remember Ms. Teamgeist™'s likewise being hailed as a prodigy in precision and stability, as a result of her perfect curves?!...
Oh, but this is not yet all!... The Mercurial Vapor III twins are moreover proudly announced to exhibit a type of sole structure that maximizes the transference of energy from the foot to the ground! (Ms. Teamgeist™'s fantasies might have already set her in wild daydreaming, by now, at the thrills she can expect, in Germany, when she finally makes personal acquaintance with these inseparable twins!
...)
To conclude the seemingly interminable enumeration of exceptional qualities, the Mercurial Vapor III boots are reportedly studded in a unique way so as to enhance acceleration. Test reports are said to reveal considerable superiority in acceleration, as compared to existing soccer boots: Mercurial Vapor III are acclaimed to have managed five hundredths of a second faster than their competitors, over a test-distance of ten meters!...
So, it all looks like there may be another strong candidate for stardom, in addition to Ms. Ms. Teamgeist™, in the coming World Cup!
And, should there be love at first sight, when Ms. Teamgeist™ and the Mercurial Vapor III™ twins are finally face to face, on the turf, at the Olympic Stadium, in Berlin, we might be about see some of the most inspired goals Ronaldo has scored!... Let us hope that the "Gods of Football" will be casting their blessings over this threesome couple, both precociously celebrated, in tall superlatives, hailed as technological gems.
Let us further hope that all the technological eulogy that we, fans, have now heard in song and verse, will effectively manifest itself in what we most enjoy: lots of goals and great saves, inspired passes and footwork, and an exciting World Cup, independently of the winner, or the top goal scorer!
check, as well, the page Noteworthy for complementary data & references 
June 4 update: Independently of the wonders that have been said and sung on these 'wonder-boots,' who would not have noticed Ronaldo's severe discomfort, during Brazil's lukewarm warm-up match against New Zealand?... Ronaldo was out of the field so many times, changing and changing boots...and having cushion pads placed inside his boots...that one may start wondering what might happen in Brazil's World Cup matches...
Ronaldo explained that he had developed a number of blisters on his feet, the largest of which had broken open, painfully leaving his flesh exposed. Thus the conspicuous discomfort and the successive attempts at finding a way he could play without much pain–which had to be given up, at last, and Ronaldo was replaced by Robinho.
The boots manufacturer has understandably come forward at once, to clarify that those special World Cup boots were actually developed with the aid of input from Ronaldo, himself. (The 'bad tongues' in Brazil were then quick to suggest that Ronaldo's feet must have grown overweight, since the boots at stake were developed...)
What cannot be denied, though, is that the entire World was surprisingly introduced, on that Sunday, to an odd instance of soccer 'tactics'–rather approaching the dynamics of basketball...the recurrent in-out(+different-boots), in-out(+different-boots), motivated by a discomfort previously unheard of in Ronaldo's already long career.
Or would these 'tactics' be part of some 'secret weapon' that the Brazilian side was rehearsing, for the World Cup?...
At any rate, in view of Ronaldo's boot-ordeal in Switzerland, one may be tempted to wonder if the glamorous name which the 'wonder-boots' were given–Mercurial Vapor III™–was truly appropriate... Mercurial, perhaps; but Vapor seems rather remote from anything as abrasive as the handling that Ronaldo's feet appeared to have been experiencing, that Sunday afternoon...
Well, well...Ronaldo and his Mercurial boots will hopefully make friends soon. Vapor, or plain Solid...all that matters is that every soccer legend in Germany won't be prevented from contributing his share toward the quality World Cup 'show' that every soccer fan has been looking forward to, in Germany-2006!
Portugal's Luis Figo, whose feet are likewise in the company of a Mercurial pair, has reportedly faced an analogous problem regarding blisters.
2006
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