Pantofola d'Oro Lazzarini Play Test
The SoccerBible fans have spoken! You asked us to Play Test the Pantofola d'Oro Lazzarini football boots, so that's exactly what we've done. We sent out our best play testers to find out how these Italian crafted leather football boots perform.
Whenever we showcase a new Pantofola d'Oro football boot, the same discussions and opinions seem to surface, yes they may look good (that's down to personal opinion) but how do they perform? The first thing to say is that Pantofola d'Oro are never going to compete with the Superfly or adizero, and they don't plan to get Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in their football boots. So with that in mind, this play test was conducted in the context of the current leather football boots available on the market.
Out of the box and in-hand, the Lazzarini just looks and feels great. There's no gimmicky technology or rubber additions to the upper, instead it's just a smooth and soft leather. There's a definite prestige that comes with these boots, they're not just your standard boot, which is emphasised by the hand-pressed Pantofola d'Oro text stamped onto the side of the boot.
When you first slip your foot into the Lazzarini the comfort and softness of the leather takes you back. The boots feel like you've worn them already, as the leather just nicely fits around the foot. As far as sizing goes, our play tester wears 7.5 Nike and 8 in adidas, and found the size 8 Lazzarini's to be the best fit.
At the SoccerBible we've tested a whole variety of football boots from the Superfly to the v1 SL and the Wave Ignitus to the Pele 1970. However, putting the Pantofola d'Oro Lazzarini's on is unlike any of the previous boots reviewed, it's a complete traditional no-fuss all leather upper.
An example of the traditional fit and feel is the lacing system. You will see the extra long laces, which to the more modern boot wearer might see as an inconvenience, when in actual fact is the most basic form of flywire! The laces wrap around the boot to secure the boot fit and prevent slippage, and you can even loop behind the rear studs to assist heel lock.
After a short jog in the Lazzarini's, we knew they were ready for action. With the softness of the leather, if there's a breaking-in period it's achieved after about five minutes of playing, and only improves over time.
The leather isn't the thinnest, but as it's so malleable to the foot it provides a great feel for the ball, which has a direct impact on your ball control, passing and shooting, whilst offering a bit of protection for when you really connect with a sweet shot.
The quality of leather is something you will hear a lot of around football boots, followed closely by ball touch and feel, but it's not something to be underestimated. The feeling between your foot, the boot and the ball, is the most important thing when it comes to football boots. It's the reason why players might be reluctant to change footwear, and at the end of the day no matter how much tech you have, if the boots don't feel quite right and you're having a bad game because you're not quite connecting with the ball, then your footwear is just not performing.
We can't imagine the Pantofola d'Oro Lazzarini's have spent much time down the lab, and no where else is this more evident than with the sole-plate. It's your standard conical stud configuration, which although isn't going to win you any traction races, it also won't let you down. However, when turning and moving it is advised to have your laces looped and tightened, because as you stretch the leather out this also means your foot can slide sideways with quick changes of direction.
There are two more points to consider with the outsole. The first is that it's stitched to the upper, which is quite rare in a modern boot, and is great for the longevity of the boot. The second is as our wearer has owned a pair of Lazzarini's for some time, a quite interesting adaption happens to the outsole. Almost like the upper, the outsole forms to your foot, as there is a definite pronounced area under the ball of the foot!
Now we're not going to sit here and say the Pantofola d'Oro Lazzarini is perfect, because it's not and if it was there wouldn't be any need to create Traxion studs or Teijin synthetic! And one place the Lazzarini does let's itself down is the insole.
Now granted you're not going to get any Poron inserts with this kind of boot, but you would expect some cushioning, but push your finger down on the insole and you'll pretty much hit a hard outsole. To be fair, this did only became a discomfort towards the end of a 2 hour play test session conducted on a hard pitch, so over the course of 90 minutes you may not notice this but clearly there's room for improvement.
The dry pitch also raised another issue for us, because quite the opposite to dry, water can become an issue. As mentioned before, our play tester has owned the Lazzarini in his collection for some time, but he won't wear the boots in wet conditions. It's nothing against Pantofola d'Oro, it's just quite natural for a leather to take on board water in wet conditions which increases the weight and misshapes the leather.
For this reason they are predominantly worn for six-a-side, which in itself is a testament to the boots as the playing surface is perhaps the most harsh on a boot. Despite a few minor scuffs to the upper the quality is retained and there are no areas where the stitching, outsole or upper are coming away.
It's time to face reality for Pantofola d'Oro, because as good as they are the heritage category has become surprisingly competitive. You already had the Copa Mundial and the Puma King, and whether or not you agree with Flywire being used, you now have the new Tiempo's which are becoming increasingly popular.
So, can the Lazzarini compete? Well yes is the answer, stick a Swoosh or three stripes on the boot and we'd all be drooling over the softness and quality of the leather. The best way to describe the Lazzarini is they're like an old friend when you put them on, the shape of the boot has sculpted to the shape of your foot for a unique fit.
The Pantofola d'Oro Lazzarini is one of the softest boots you will ever wear, they ooze class and offer great performance on the field. We've touched on a few negatives, such as wet conditions and insole, but as a leather football boot the Lazzarini is amongst the elite with performance to match the Copa Mundial and Tiempo.
