Fifteen years ago, a young man from Rosario, Argentina, played his first professional game. As they say, the rest is history. adidas has released the special edition “Messi 15 Years” Nemeziz to honor that moment that started a legacy. The shoe’s design pays tribute to some of the great man’s many memorable moments in his long and successful career.
The “Messi 15 Years” Nemeziz is based on Messi’s favorite model, the Nemeziz 19.1. The upper is colored in white and blue to honor Messi’s Argentinian roots. It’s then adorned with touches of gold through the split soleplate and Three Stripes on the heel, together acknowledging the countless trophies that he’s won over the course of his decorated playing career. This is further elaborated on with the presence of a ‘five dot’ detail on the left foot, which represents his five Ballon d’Ors, along with his personal ‘M’ logo on the right.
The nods don’t end there; a lot has happened in those 15 years. In honour of it being his preferred foot, the boot’s left sock liner is emblazoned with a ”10’—don’t need explaining, right?—while the right sock liner features the number ’30’, the number he wore for his debut. The right boot also features the words ‘82nd min—16-10-2004′ on the forefront in honour of the date and time that Messi stepped onto a professional football pitch for the first time in an away fixture against Espanyol. There is also a ’15 AOS’ print on the arch to highlight his 15 years as a professional player.
Rather than celebrating Messi’s most recent personal accolade, the FIFA Best Player Award, which Messi picked up recently, adidas has instead decided to honour his debut and his subsequent achievements. 604 goals in 692 appearances, along with 233 assists, all of which have contributed to 10 La Liga titles, 6 Copa del Reys, 4 Champions Leagues, and three Club World Cups. Yeah, not a bad effort.