Maradona in World Cup | マラドーナのスパイク

1990 Italy
%ef%bc%91 First of all, in the opening match against Cameroon, Diego used (probably) a custom-made replaceable studs model modified from PUMA KING. The sole is the conventional black and white 2-color sole, unlike the normal DUO flex sole.

In photographer Shimizu’s wonderfully clear headline photo, the “Diego” can be seen on the Puma line.

Even the Belgian and England star players, Ceulemans and Gascoigne, used the normal KING model at this tournament, and only Diego would have worn the special model with the green line on the heel.

vs Cameroon

Argentina, the previous champion, was unseated by Cameroon in the opening game and went into the next game against the Soviet Union hoping for a must-win, but for some reason, Diego wore a different model of boots than the opening game. The upper of Soviet model was similar to the Cameroon model, but the heel was the conventional pattern.

vs USSR

Perhaps due to the momentum from the victory against the Soviet Union, the same model as the one used against the Soviet Union was used at the start of the game against Romania, but in the second half of the game, Diego was switched to the same green-lined model as in the first game

vs Romania (1st half and 2nd half (right))
Diego’s boots against Romania. At the start of the match and in the first half (two left pictures), they wore the same model as they did against the Soviet Union, but in the second half (right), when he assisted the goal from a corner kick, it was the same model as in the first game

Argentina managed to get through the qualifying round and played Brazil in the first round of the final tournament. In the face of overwhelming odds, the famous assist to Caniggia from Diego’s dribble breakthrough was the same boots as in the opening game. However, the first half seemed to be the model for the Soviet game

vs Brazil (1st half and 2nd half (left))

During 1st half

In the quarter-finals, Argentina faced Yugoslavia led by Osim, a well-known coach in Japan. Argentina struggled in this match as well, but they won the game in a penalty shootout.

Diego wore the only black shoe tongue model in the tournament. The sole was the same as the previous model

vs Yugoslavia
Diego’s boots for the Yugoslavia game. They have the same specifications as the opening game, with a green line on the heel, but the shoe tongue is black, and the letters and markings of PUMA are displayed in green.
For some reason, his socks are not Adidas, which is the same as the uniforms, but made by Ennerre, which was the manufacturer of Naples’ uniforms, and they seemed to hide the mark at first (center). Did he forget the socks of the national team?

The boots for the Yugoslavia game could have been exclusive to the subsequent finals. But in the penalty shootout, God made an unexpected mistake, and maybe it was a bad omen, but in the semi-finals (against Italy) and finals (against West Germany), they used the same model as in the opening game. Maybe he didn’t even change his shoes.

vs Italy

vs West Germany

In the end, he used three different replaceable studs models for this competition and did not wear the moulded studs model, but he did try out his own moulded studs model during practice in this competition

For practice
Diego practicing in a moulded model during the 1990 World Cup. The sole is of the same type of normal KING, but the upper is a special version with a rather flashy shoe tongue.

The above is about Diego’s boots from the 1990 World Cup, but unfortunately, no boots of similar specifications were ever made commercially available in Japan. According to one theory, many of the boots worn in the World Cup games are probably still in his own possession.

There are similar replica models of training shoes and boots. But quality of them are very low.

1994 USA