Nike Tiempo Legend III

It’s been mighty cold these past few weeks in my city of Washington, DC. I can’t remember a spell of weather this cold this long the entire nine years I’ve lived here. Although it’s all relative and if I was from somewhere up in Canada this might as well be Palm Springs!

But all this cold and all this snow has put a damper on my soccer playing, and a review for Soccer Pro I’ve been meaning to write for the Nike Tiempo Legend III FG has become very difficult. Seeing as how I wasn’t going to get an actual game in anytime soon I decided to go out for a kickaround with my trusted Albion Road cohort Chris Ketcham to get a feel for these shoes. Still pretty cold and some snow on the ground but we pressed on.

I’ve been an adidas man for as long as I can remember. The Copa Mundial has been my shoe of choice for many, many years. But something happened with the most recent pair I picked up. They just don’t fit right towards the heel and often left me walking very gingerly afterwards. So I felt like it might be time to try out something different and give Nike a chance.

The shoes felt very tight initially, almost too tight to wear. But as we kicked around a bit the shoe felt less and less tight and seemed to become more snug than tight. I can imagine after a couple more wearings they’ll fit just perfectly. They're also pretty basic in appearance, which is something I like when it comes to soccer shoes. I've never been one for the jazzy-jazzy high color style, I usually like a pretty simple shoe.

I have a pair of turf shoes that are really soft and light and give me great touch but for passes beyond the 10-15 yard range I just don’t have a lot of power. And forget about shooting. And Copa Mundials provide plenty of power but sometimes feel a bit clumsy in the short range passing department.

(What’s that? No of course it’s not the player!)

But at first kick the Nike Tiempo seemed a nice balance – light enough to give me a nice, soft feel for the ball but strong enough to hit a ball at distance and with power. I’m really optimistic about giving these a good workout in a game. And it’s making me feel a bit more positive about Nike soccer shoes after all these years!