Say the words Diadora football boots and you’re immediately conjured back to a simpler time. A time of Rivaldo pivoting to smash home volleys in the heat of Japan in the World Cup; of Roy Keane burning the Premier League grass beneath his soles and chastising his teammates for not doing the same.
Diadora has heritage in the Champions League too, though – and Pro:Direct have now released these glorious boots (opens in new tab) to honour a true legend of the noughties, Filippo Inzaghi.
Black and gold and made of the softest leather, these are some of the best football boots we’ve seen in 2022 and since AC Milan recently racked up the Scudetto, it’s a perfect nod to their last European victory 15 years ago this year.
There are two versions of the boot: the Diadora Brasil Made In Italy (opens in new tab) and the Diadora B-Elite Italia (opens in new tab).
The gold on these boots feel regal and flashy, while there are tiny nods of green, white and red – the colours of the Italian flag of course. the leather is sumptuous – recalling a time when all football boots were this luxurious – and the soles are gold, too.Â
The Diadora logo adorns the tongue, while there’s a “9” on the heel, for Inzaghi himself, who wore the No.9 shirt when he obliterated Rafa’s Reds in the Olympic Stadium that night.
Super Pippo netted against Liverpool in 2007 in Athens to avenge the Miracle of Istanbul, as AC Milan went on to lift Old Big Ears for a seventh time. Fittingly, this weekend, Liverpool head to Paris to attempt to draw level with I Rossoneri.
There’s also a whiteout version of the Diadora Brasil Made In Italy boot (opens in new tab), which has been reduced down to just £140 on Pro:Direct. It might even be FFT’s favourite of the lot, with the only colour on the boots at all being the little touch of an Italian flag.Â
Diadora have excelled. These ones reference some of the greatest football boots of all time, while feeling perfect for playing in today. Belissimo.