Nike are celebrating a distinguished double as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lieke Martens both won the 2017 Best Player Titles at the FIFA Awards Ceremony in London last night. To mark Lieke Martens' incredible year of achievements the Swoosh have served up a signature 'Lieke' Mercurial Superfly V design.
A limited number of Cristiano Ronaldo's Mercurial CR7 "Melhor" boots have been released, but Martens receives more bespoke treatment by wearing the only pair to be made. The Barcelona forward picks up the award on the back of a year where she helped the Netherlands win the 2017 European Championships, winning the Player of the Tournament award along the way.
Martens' phenomenal year continues with recognition as the best player in the game. To commemorate this honor, Nike Football has created a player edition Mercurial just for Martens. The boot’s colour palette pays homage to the Oranje Leeuwinnen (Orange Lionesses) and the Leeuwinne icon appears on the heel and on the sockliner. The sole plate of the boot features a colour shift from silver into blue, then fading in Orange around the forefoot. The lace aglets read, “1st,” in recognition of her team’s first European Championship, as well as the individual hardware she’s accumulated.
The Swoosh has a multi-colour orange to blue fade with a platinum-hued outline. Most notably though, Martens’s first name in all caps, “LIEKE,” appears on the medial side of the boot where “NIKE” normally appears. The platinum colour of the letters is a nod to her most recent trophy acquisition. As far as signature personalisation goes, this is pretty damn special.
