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Soft ground cleats aren’t something you see a lot on pitches in the USA, but we try to cater to everyone here at soccerprose.com, so we gave these Nike Tiempo Legend III soft grounds a run out. THe first hting you have to know about these boots is while they have been tweaked over the years, the design has remained more or less unchanged since 1984. Nike seemed to get it right that year, and have been making them ever since. To give you an idea, these boots have been on the pitch at the highest levels since before Ryan Giggs made his debut.
The first thing I noticed about these shoes was the coloring. I think the white all over with red outlining the black swoosh looks classy, and they really look well against the green grass of the pitch. The other thing that is an obvious difference from the hard ground shoes is the soft ground studs. They’re removable, and will give you superior traction on wet, mucky surfaces where the blades tend to slip and slide in the ground.
The upper is kangaroo leather all over, and fits to the foot without any need to break the min. The touch is soft, and light, and only gets better as you wear them. I found that the boots form to fit your foot after repeated wear, like any k-leather shoe, and are truly comfortable. The other area that provides a lot of comfort is the insole and sock liner. The insoles itself is made of Poron, and thicker than what you’d find on a bladed cleat shoe. This cushion the impact of the hard metal studs on your feet making sure you won’t get blisters or soreness in the feet. They passed my usual test of running 800 meters on a running track without hurting my feet.
Last of all, the lightweight TPU outsole uses fiber-glass and flex grooves so you won;t find these boots stiff, even on the first wearing. The nylon studs with aluminum tips also allow for maximum traction without any slipping as the aluminium allows fro more friction than steel or other metals.
Overall, there a great pair of boots, and tend to run a bit cheaper than their firm ground cousins at $119.99 at soccerpro.com due to less popularity. I’d recommend them to anyone who plays on soft ground, particularly in the Pacific northwest, or any wet climate. Just be sure to check with your league before you buy them as some regions have banned metal studs.
Written by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com
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I’m trying to find a pair of these where can I find a size 8.5