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There’s nothing quite like trying to replicate your heroes in the back garden five minutes after the final whistle has blown. Almost everyone has that inner child in them who dreams of replicating that bicycle kick into the shrubbery or pulling off that last-gasp slide tackle into the hedgerows.
Also, it’s just as much fun to pick out the football – and as one of the game’s leading suppliers, there’s not many better in the business than Nike at delivering a slick finish of their own when it comes to having the right one to play with.
They’re not going to make you Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, but from club-branded balls to display your loyalty to league-leaning replicas that can help make your park feel like the biggest stadium, here are 12 of the best Nike footballs you can buy.
1. Nike Flight
The Nike Flight football uses Aerowsculpt technology which took eight whole years to develop. Its hypothesis was that if a ball is completely smooth then it gets lost in the air and goes off course. The patented moulding on the surface of the ball actually changes the ball’s relationship with the air, improving aerodynamics by up to 30 per cent compared to a traditional football.
2. Nike Street Akka
Wanting something rough enough to do it tough whatever the terrain? Let this one be your ball of choice. It's heavier than the norm, encouraging players to push harder and train better with it - ensuring that any other ball will be a piece of cake to command in due course.
3. Chelsea FC Pitch
Taking its cues from the Blues' secondary strip this season, feel like a UEFA Champions League winner with this club-branded ball. Its smooth casing covers a rubber bladder to help keep shape and air pressure, ensuring you'll have a reliable piece of kit for whenever you fancy a kickaround.
4. FC Barcelona Pitch
There's no chance of losing this bold and bright FC Barcelona ball. The smooth, durable design with is matched with team graphics that make it easy to see the ball across the pitch, striking shades of orange and blue.
5. Premier League Tunnel Vision Skills
Busier on the surface but just as equally attractive in its funky design pattern, the Premier League Tunnel Vision Skills presents another Size 1 football perfect for practising those kick-ups in the yard.
Decked out in a crisp black and white palate topped with hyper crimson globes and a jaggy snake-esque pattern curled around the official competition crest, it looks – and feels – like pace incarnate.
6. England Prestige
Three Lions on your shirt? It’s all about Three Lions on your ball these days – and with the England Prestige effort, you can show your appreciation for Gareth Southgate’s side as they continue to rise up the ranks of world football.
Their resurgence since the former Middlesbrough man took the helm half-a-decade ago has delivered their best results in decades – and in traditional white, red and midnight navy blue, this is sure to be a firm favourite on the road to Qatar 2022.
7. FFF Supporters
Euro 2020 and the Copa America are in the rear-view mirror – but the Qatar 2022 World Cup is only a year away. Want to get a head-start on soaking up the football fever sure to erupt across the planet?
This FFF Supporters ball, celebrating France’s reigning titleholders and newly-minted Nations League victors, is one of the busier designs in the Nike range, white with irregular splashes of blackened blue across its visage – but topped off with a tasty red update to the crest of Les Bleus.
8. Netherlands Supporters
If sleekness is what you desire, regardless of national interest, then few can compare to the Netherlands Supporters ball – a gorgeously-buffed black number designed to celebrate the vocal fanbase of the Oranje.
Crafted with the same specifications as its FFF brethren, it oozes pure class; punctured only by a central stripe in Nike’s safety orange colour, it feels almost criminal to even take it off the mantlepiece and scuff it up.
9. Nike Futsal Maestro
Simple and yet gloriously effective, the Maestro does exactly what it says on the tin, bringing masterful bounce and direction to any match. It's designed with small kickabouts in mind, but its sturdy design means it will be just as well suited to the bigger occasion too.
10. Paris Saint-Germain Strike
What’s better than a modern-day sporting icon? How about two? There’s a clutch of collaborative editions across the Nike range that marries the legacy of basketball superstar Michael Jordan with Paris Saint-Germain – think Space Jam, except Bugs Bunny is Neymar – and this might just be the best.
Presented in the traditional colours of blue and white in a half-and-half finish, modulated with superb grooves – and topped off with the classic Jumpman logo in-between. Bliss.
11. Atletico Madrid Strike
There may be no cross-sport blend yet to grace the Rojiblancos’ own iteration of the Strike football – but this one is just as smart as its French-orientated brethren, textured with the same intelligent groove work that helps this range stand out from the crowd.
Predominantly shaded in Atletico Madrid’s traditional two-tone white and red strip, this is a finish sure to even make Diego Simeone pump his fist in the air – not that such an act takes much for the energetic Argentine.
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