RIYADH — Adidas and one of the Saudi Professional League's (SPL) most driven footballers, Taisir Al-Jassim, have recently unveiled Nitrocharge, a brand new energy-retaining football boot designed for the next generation of player, ‘The Engine'; the player that drives a team. Following a season which saw him play almost 2000 minutes across 22 SPL appearances, as well as representing his national team five times this year, Al-Jassim joins a world-class line-up of players who have been identified by Adidas as ‘The Engine' players, including Bayern Munich's Javi Martinez, FC Barcelona's Dani Alves, AS Roma's Daniele De Rossi and Paris Saint Germain's Ezequiel Lavezzi. This stellar cast are amongst the first to wear the boots. The visually striking Nitrocharge is an evolution of Adidas' heritage in creating footwear to fit certain player types. For the last two years adidas has been working behind the scenes with football statisticians, Opta, to identify the archetypal ‘Engine' player via an algorithm which looks at work rate, pitch coverage and on/off ball statistics. ‘The Engine' powers a team, runs and tackles more than any other, ferociously seeking chances and showing relentless energy across 90 minutes. Speaking during a field-test of Nitrocharge Al-Ahli captain Taisir Al-Jassim said: “Now more than ever players need to be at the top of their game for a full 90 minutes but it's not effective to go out strong and fade in the last 20 minutes. For us midfielders, we cover a lot of ground, actively seeking out chances to intercept and take the ball the length of the pitch, so every ounce of energy we can keep will help us stay sharp and fast.” Nitrocharge has been built with energy retention at its heart and uses a range of new technologies that will innovate the way these footballers play the game. — SG
