Brazilian superstar Neymar is leading the race to secure the 2014 World Cup’s Golden Boot.
And he has taken his mission one step further after Nike handed him a pair of golden boots, as he looks to sprinkle the stardust that will guide the hosts to glory.
The Barcelona superstar will be wearing a pair of the new and exclusive Gold Hypervenom boots, developed specifically for Neymar, with the Brazilian contributing to the design of the boot.
Solid gold: Neymar’s new boots match the World Cup trophy he will hope to pick up in the Maracana
Going for gold: Neymar already has four goals from group games against Croatia and Cameroon
Neymar, who is the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals in Brazil already, had previously been wearing the original Hypervenom Phantom Boot which he launched in Rio de Janeiro, before shining at the Confederations Cup last summer, from which Brazil emerged triumphant.
He has been wearing a different colour variation of the boot since signing for Barcelona ahead of the 2013-14 season but he will now hope that he has struck gold with this latest innovative style, for which the inspiration is Neymar’s own childhood memories.
Denis Dekovic, Nike Football Design Director, explains: ‘When we met with Neymar he told us that when he was 12 he used to spray paint his boots gold.
Side view: Neymar will hope to add to his four-goal tally with his trophy-coloured Hypervenom boots
Detail: The Hypervenom boots are the same design that Neymar wore at the Confederations Cup – but gold
‘He said that he always wanted a pair of gold boots but that he couldn’t find them anywhere. So we took that insight and decided this summer would be the perfect moment to create this boot for him.
‘The biggest challenge was getting the gold tone perfect so it had the right spray-painted look. We worked closely with Neymar to get it as close to how he remembered the colour when he would apply it as a kid. We’re all delighted with the results and can’t wait to see it on pitch.’
Neymar scored twice against Croatia and twice against Cameroon as Brazil made relatively straightforward progress from Group A. They face the tournament’s dark horses Chile in the first knock-out round.
Gunning for glory: The current tournament top scorer and his team-mates face Chile next
Brazil-liant: The new specially designed boots are bright yellow on the bottom, matching the Nike logo
