Sergio Ramos's match worn Nike T90 Laser World Cup 2010 & Tiempo Legend V

Player name: Sergio Ramos Garcia

Country: Spain

Clubs: Sevilla, Real Madrid

Position: Central defender

DOB: 30/03/1986

Height: 6 ft 0 in

Sergio Ramos is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains both Real Madrid and the Spanish national team as a centre back. He has also played as a right back Ramos is widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, and has also received praise for his passing and goalscoring capabilities.

After emerging through Sevilla's youth academy and spending two seasons with the senior side, Ramos moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2005. Since then, he has gone on to become a mainstay for Real Madrid, and has won 21 major honours, including four La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, becoming one of La Liga's top goalscorers from a defensive position. He played a crucial part in the build-up to all four UEFA Champions League wins, being named in the competition Squad of the Season each time. He also notably scored the equalizer in the 93rd minute of the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final.

We've got our hands on not one, but two pairs of Ramos' match worn boots. The Nike T90 Laser pair were worn during the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa for the Spain national team, whilst the Tiempo Legend V pair were worn whilst playing for Real Madrid during the 2015-16 season.

Ramos has been named to the FIFPro World11 ten times; a record for a defender, and the third-most all-time. He has also been elected to the UEFA Team of the Year eight times; also a record for a defender, and third-most all-time. Additionally, Ramos has been named La Liga's Best Defender a record five times, and to the La Liga Team of the Season in 2015–16.
Internationally, Ramos represented the Spanish national team at four World Cups and three European Championships. He won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship in 2008 and 2012, being named to the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2010, and the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2012. He made his first appearance for Spain at the age of 18 and, in 2013, he became the nation's youngest player to ever reach 100 caps. Ramos currently holds the record as the most capped player in the history of the Spanish national team, and is his country's tenth-highest all-time goalscorer.

This pair of Ramos' Nike T90 Laser's were worn by the player for the Spain national team during their triumphant 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign. There are numerous details which separate this pair from a regular pair which Nike sold to the general public.

The soleplate features carbon fibre and a traditional 6-stud soft ground configuration. This was not an available option on retail models as they were only available to the public in the FG variant. The SG studs themselves are the same as what we saw on Iniesta's custom CTR360's where they are black plastic with metal tips, instead of being completely aluminium. 

Nike have personalised the boots for Ramos by adding the Spanish national flag to the left boot, and "Ramos 15" embroidered in the right boot. As this pair are bespoke made to measure there are no size labels present.

At the 2010 World Cup, Ramos played every single minute of the tournament as a right back, helping Spain keep five clean sheets and reach the final, which they won 1–0 against the Netherlands; he topped the tournament's Castrol Performance Index with a score of 9.79. An integral part of Spain's World Cup winning side, making this pair even extra special with them holding that footballing history. 

One of the most interesting modifications on this pair is the absence of any heel counters/structure. The heels are completely flexible, and with no real force can be folded with one finger. Whilst this will decrease the heel protection, it may aid the comfort and fit of the boots... which is much needed with a pair like this as players need to be able to wear their boots flat out during international tournaments, without encountering issues such as break in problems and blistering. We have seen this previously on Philippe Coutinho's Mercurial Vapor boots, a player who suffers from "Haglund's Deformity" which is a bony enlargement at the back of the heel, which when rubbed against shoes becomes irritable, sore and painful. It is unclear if Ramos suffered from this at the time he wore the T90 Laser model, although this modification hints that he may have done. Nike take good care of their top athletes when it comes to details like this.

Regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, Ramos is a physically strong player who excels in the air due to his elevation, eye for goal, and heading accuracy, making him a goal threat on set-pieces; he is also a competent, aggressive tackler. In addition to his defensive skills and goal scoring ability, he is gifted with pace, good technical ability, as well as good distribution, passing, and crossing ability. According to Spanish sports newspaper Marca, FIFA's official records confirmed that in 2015, Ramos was clocked at a sprinting speed of 30.6 kilometers per hour, making him one of the fastest footballers in the world at the time. He is also an accurate penalty taker, and is known for often using the Panenka technique when taking them.

Another interesting addition on Ramos's 2010 World Cup T90's is the addition of soft air pods in the heel areas. This is similar to the "Air Zoom" technology we saw on Nike boots way back in the early 2000's, it may act as a shock absorber and just add that extra bit of comfort for Ramos. The heel lining is also considerably thicker and softer than retail models.

One last point about this pair is the use a different toe board, which has been lifted from the Mercurial Vapor Superfly ii. The only feasible reason Nikewould  have applied this into Ramos' T90's instead of the usual toe board is the focus of saving weight in order to make the boots lighter... not that this particular change would make a huge difference anyway.

Sergio Ramos' match worn Nike Tiempo Legend V are equally as beautiful as the T90 Laser boots of his, with this pair being from the "Electro Flare" pack released towards the end of September in 2015, which featured the spray paint effect to the heel area of the boots. 

Above: Sergio wearing this pair in the UEFA Champions League group stage match Real Madrid vs PSG, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on the 3rd of November 2015. Ramos captained Real Madrid to a 1-0 win, they later went on to win the tournament that season and become champions of Europe for the 11th time beating Atletico Madrid in the final.

The outstep area of each boot has been specially personalised for Ramos by Nike with "Sergio JR SR4" on the right boot, and "Marco SR4" on the left boot, with both featuring the Spanish flag. Sergio JR is the name of his first born son, with Marco being the name of his second.

The instep of each boot features a reference to his wife Pilar Rubio who he met in 2012, and later married in 2019. 

Throughout Ramos' Real Madrid career, he has made a total of 640 appearances and counting, scoring 91 goals and making 38 assists which are mind boggling goal involvement stats for a defender.

This pair feature some differences to the retail version Tiempo Legend V, whilst they may not be that obvious visually, they make Ramos' pair leaps and bounds ahead of a regular shop model (which, let's be honest, was already one of the best Tiempo's Nike have made to date). As with the majority of Nike's top athlete's boots, they have made this pair for Ramos in Italy to is exact specifications. With regular pairs being mass produced made in China/Vietnam, they lack the attention to detail and overall quality required from a pair of boots for one of the greatest defenders in the world to wear. The leather quality is simply incredible, the kind you'd expect to find in a luxury Rolls Royce...which is fitting, seeing as Ramos is the Rolls Royce of defenders!

Ramos holds multiple disciplinary records, in the Champions League, La Liga, and in the Spanish national team. Ramos holds the record for being the most carded player in La Liga, with 187 cards. His 167 yellow cards surpass Alberto Lopo, the former record holder for La Liga yellow cards. The remaining 20 are red cards, making him the most sent-off player in La Liga as well. His La Liga card record is higher than any other player's in the major European league, making him the most booked player in all major European leagues. In the Champions League, Ramos has amassed 40 yellow cards and 4 red cards (3 of which were straight red cards), making him both the most-carded player and joint-most red-carded player in Champions League history. Lastly, Ramos also holds the record for being the most carded player in the history of the Spanish national team, with 24 yellow cards

Another point worth noting is the colouring/design. The "Electro Flare" design is much more vibrant on Ramos' pair, and there is a lot more of the design applied to the boot in general. As players wear the boots for promotional reasons, companies like Nike try to make it as obvious as possible their players are wearing the latest of their products. This something that is common among player issued and worn shirts, where the manufacturer will often make the sponsor logos bigger. The shot above also shows the heel cup is a slightly different shape when compared to a retail version, small differences like this are common with a made to measure boot though.

The overall shape of this pair differs from the retail versions as they were made around a last of Ramos' feet, with them being custom made in Italy for him by Nike.

Due to his leadership, his athletic and technical prowess, his ability to excel both offensively and defensively, as well as his tactical versatility, which allows him to be deployed as a centre back and as a full back, former manager Carlo Ancelotti has compared him to legendary defender Paolo Maldini. Due to his tactical versatility, he has also occasionally been deployed as a central or defensive midfielder, in particular under Ancelotti during the 2014–15 season. Ramos has been praised for his decisive performances in important games, most notably for Real Madrid, due to his tendency to score crucial goals for his team, and is considered by several pundits to be one of the most reliable performers in high-pressure situations. However, his concentration from match to match has been questioned. Ramos is often criticised for using excessive and reckless force while playing.

As is common with Sergio Ramos, he wore this pair in the SG variation. He is a player that tends to wear FG in training only. Some pitch dirt marks are still attached to the soleplate, the effect that elite professional has on football boots differs greatly from that of a boggy muddy football pitch. Where the pitches that the likes of Real Madrid play on are inch perfect, and in optimal conditions, they do not impose much wear to the studs themselves. As the pitches are wet but not muddy, the plastic of the sole tends to discolour but the studs do not tend to wear down so much. Whereas muddy Sunday league pitches will cause the metal and plastic studs to get beat up and out of shape after a just few uses. Some pros also do not wear their boots enough for them to get to the stage of showing much wear and needing replacement. Some rare exceptions, take Kroos for example, wears his boots till they fall apart, yet someone like Beckham swapped pairs with almost every use.

Two incredible pairs of match worn boots from one incredible player. Which of the two pairs would you choose?