The quickness and resourcefulness of the Chinese light industry are already tired of talking in the press and the fact that the electronics market is littered with a pile of low-quality products on the topic of “iPhone” and “Nokia” is no surprise to anyone. But progress, as you know, does not stand still, and enterprising residents of the Celestial Empire began to master new branches of activity of famous foreign brands. Now their gaze has fallen on the market of sports shoes for football.

The reasons for the expansion are quite clear – the number one sport in the world is a tasty morsel of the sporting goods market. Pioneer companies spend huge sums of money to develop and introduce new high-tech products to the market, which are standard only for a short period of time, due to the constant development of the industry. The fact that such football equipment and shoes cost good money does not surprise anyone, because for every pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly football boots, in addition to ultra-expensive materials, a part of the costs spent on their development falls.

So, we are very close to the main topic of the article: “How to identify the original.” There have been products similar to branded sneakers on the Ukrainian sports shoe market for a long time and this is not news to anyone. But with this kind of football boots of world brands, our consumer began to get acquainted relatively recently. So football shoes of dubious origin began to appear on the markets and a number of unscrupulous online stores. As a store that preaches high quality standards, we would like to shed light on the current situation.

Dangers that can be encountered.

To begin with, let’s figure out what the average consumer is threatened with buying “tricky” Nike or Adidas football boots. It would seem that what could be wrong with acquiring a non-original, outwardly almost indistinguishable from the original? In fact, there are enough pitfalls:

• Quality: the service life is at least two times less.

Before buying shoes of dubious origin, it should be understood that, unlike branded factories for the production of football boots, underground production neglects quality control. Handicraft workshops are not able to provide a high-quality and complete production cycle, which, accordingly, directly affects the service life of such football shoes.   

• Materials: short-lived and unsafe.

For manufacturers of football boots of dubious origin, there is always one goal in the first place – it is profit. There are several ways to increase the profitability of production – it’s cheap labor and cheap materials. Since all global brands, one way or another, place their production in regions with cheap labor, the manufacturers of fakes have to compete by reducing the cost of materials. A large company gets high-quality material at the best prices due to large volumes of purchases, and “pirates” have to use the cheapest in production. Unfortunately, such materials often turn out to be dangerous to health due to their toxicity.

• Health hazard: injury hazard.

As you know, playing football, like any other sport related to running, implies increased loads on the musculoskeletal system. The task of any high-quality football shoes is to compensate for the shocks from jumps and jerks. For these purposes, special materials are used – “foams”. The danger that should be expected from football boots made in artisanal conditions is either the complete absence of this material or a low-quality analogue that will sink after several games. Of course, a crooked cast sole can bring trouble. We are not even talking about an elementary support, the fact is that the sole cast with a defect may have irregularities that will directly contact the foot, which, as is known, has a huge number of nerve nodes and endings. The operation of a pair of such boots can cost increased fatigue and even periodic numbness of the toes! 

• Spoiled mood and wasted money.   

As we can see, the desire to save money does not always lead to positive results. The cost of shoes of dubious origin, as practice shows, is 60-70% of the cost of the original. It is unlikely that such a difference in price is worth the troubles that you may encounter.

How to distinguish the original?

Whether or not to purchase a fake is consciously a personal matter for everyone, but how to make sure that an unscrupulous seller does not sell you shoes of dubious origin under the guise of the original, we will now figure out. 

I would like to start with the fact that the quality of football boots does not depend on the country in which they are produced. The main production facilities of the world’s leading brands are located just in the Asian sector, where the bulk of shoes of dubious origin come from. The difference lies in the high technological equipment of production and quality control, for which the brand bears full responsibility primarily for its good name. So, the main thing is to buy really real original football shoes.

The most frequent “victims” of underground factories are the most popular models of entry-level football shoes (expensive models are forged much less often). At the moment, it is possible to distinguish the Mercurial Victory models from Nike and the F10 from Adidas from the general background. We will look at what are the main differences between low-quality shoes and the original on the example of the model “Nike Mercurial Victory II IC (gray / lightning)”.

So, before you buy yourself a pair of high-quality, and accordingly expensive football boots, let’s go to the manufacturer’s website and scrupulously study the model you like. We do this in order to easily find the “7 differences”. The first thing that should catch your eye is the suspiciously low cost. But it is not right to fight against the natural desire to save money, and we find the most attractive offer in terms of price. Further actions to incriminate the seller in an attempt to give the “palivo” for the original is an inspection of the boots from the outside and from the inside.

Appearance.

Boots of dubious entry-level origin, such as the “Mercurial Victory”, often have signs of more expensive models. So in Figure No. 1 (fake), vertical relief stripes are visible in the direction from the sole to the lacing (zone No. 3), they imitate the “traction” as on the older model of the “Mercurial Superfly” series (figure No. 3, zone No. 3). The surface of the original Mercurial Victory boots has a smooth texture (Figure No. 2, zone No. 3). 

Lacing.

The lacing of the branded model is made using a secret loop in the area of the first stitch (figure No. 2, zone No. 2). In the photo with non-original cleats, this detail is missing (Figure No. 1, zana No. 2). 

Sole.

With regard to the sole, it is necessary to pay attention to its shape. So, in a branded product, the configuration is formed in such a way that there is a significant narrowing in the area of the inner part of the foot (Figure No. 2, zone No. 4). In the case of counterfeit, there is no narrowing of the sole (Figure No. 1, zone No. 4).    

In the area of the toe of the original shoe, the sole is stitched with nylon thread, which gives the boots additional strength (Figure No. 2, zone No. 1), the “doubtful” pair of socks is not stitched (figure No. 1, zone No. 1).

Indirect signs.

Such seemingly insignificant details as the smell and general appearance can also help you identify a fake. Often not original boots have a characteristic smell of cheap rubber Chinese slippers, and their appearance is suspicious in itself.

That’s actually all. We hope that this material prepared by the site team 4football.com.ua , will help you not to fall for the tricks of scammers and buy yourself a pair of decent football boots that will bring a lot of positive moments on the field, bury your health and serve for more than one season. Good luck!