page_title: Nike Mercurial Vapor
section_title: Mercurial Vapor IV
hierarchical_section_title: Nike Mercurial Vapor / Mercurial Vapor IV
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Дидье Дрогба
context_page_description: The Mercurial Vapor is a football boot manufactured by Nike. The boot is known for being lightweight. Because of this, the boot is endorsed by many players for whom speed is part of their game, notably wingers or strikers, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Eden Hazard, Raheem Sterling, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Didier Drogba, Luka Modrić, Arturo Vidal, Douglas Costa, Xherdan Shaqiri, Stephan El Shaarawy, Alexis Sánchez, Philippe Coutinho and many more.
  In 1998, Nike launched the first Mercurial football boot – the R9 – a shoe inspired by and designed for Brazilian star Ronaldo, which he debuted at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The boot is in its thirteenth version the Nike Mercurial Vapor XIII.
  The boot is available in either Soft Ground, Firm Ground or Artificial Ground versions. The SG version's sole plate is fitted with six NikeSnap removable studs, which can be purchased in different lengths, for the first and second models, and traditional screw-in aluminium studs for versions 3 to 8; the FG version has seven moulded blades.
context_section_description: In April 2007, some initial pictures of what were believed to be the new Mercurial Vapor boots were leaked onto the Internet. Not much could be ascertained from the pictures, but they did show that the MVIVs might have a cover over the laces in the same vein as the Adidas F50s. The Nike "swoosh" was also larger than on previous versions. Only two colourways were shown, those being orange peel/obsidian and anthracite/vivid blue. This boot weigh in about 210g (or 7.4oz). Later in the year, a limited edition version of the Mercurial SL was put up for sale online. Only 2,008 pairs were made available in Firm Ground and 500 pairs in Soft ground, costing £250 (€400/$600) each. This version of the boot is made almost entirely out of carbon fibre and weighs a mere 190 grams (6.7 oz). The shoe is made in one colour, black, with two pink "swooshes" on each boot.
  In December 2007, a promotional video was released by Nike, featuring the former world record holder for the 100m sprint, Asafa Powell. In the video, Powell dons the Mercurial SL boots, and sprints the length of a football pitch in 9.94 seconds, before instructing the Nike representatives to "tell them they're fast." The Nike representatives are then seen taking the boots to a mansion in London, where Didier Drogba opens the door and is told, "They're fast."
  One of the advertisements shows Cristiano Ronaldo appearing to outrun a Bugatti Veyron, allegedly the fastest car in the world, while wearing the Orange Peel/Obsidian versions of the Mercurial Vapor IV boots. The final "launch" advertisement for the boots show Aaron Lennon of Tottenham Hotspur and Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa go head-to-head on a 45-metre track where the speed was based on speed to the ball and speed with the ball.
  A third colourway was revealed on the first weekend of March 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo wore them on 1 March 2008 in Manchester United's FA Cup exit against Portsmouth. This new colourway features a sport red outsole with a gold "swoosh." This new colourway was released on 7 April 2008.
  The carbon fibre Mercurial SL boots were used in a professional match for the first time in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea, when they were worn by Cristiano Ronaldo. Didier Drogba was also expected to wear them, but instead wore the black Mercurial Vapor IVs.
  On 7 June 2008, a limited edition brown leather version of the Mercurial Vapors was released to coincide with the start of UEFA Euro 2008. Each boot weighed approximately 275 g (9.7 oz). A green and white colourway, as worn by Cristiano Ronaldo, was also unveiled on 7 June, and was released on for release on 24 July, as is a white and blue version.
  The seventh colourway of the Mercurial Vapor IV was a marina/volt version, which was worn by Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
  On 24 November 2008, Nike released an eighth, limited edition pink colourway called Nike Mercurial Vapor IV Berry. Initial pictures of a pink colourway called Nike Vapor Rosa were leaked onto the Internet. A video of the Mercurial Rosa was released featuring a cartoon Franck Ribéry trying to outrun an abusive coach that resembles Pink Panther running away from the Inspector with the "Head to Toes" theme being played. A second video showed Ribery driving the Panthermobile (reenacts the intro of Pink Panther), going to a casino and the 1st cartoon.The 2 cartoons were called "Superlight, Supersonic! These were then backed up with a video from Nike, which stated "You better be quick," and featured players such as James Milner, Theo Walcott, Carlos Vela, Marlon Harewood and Cesc Fàbregas. Nicklas Bendtner debuted the boots when Arsenal faced Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium on 22 November 2008.
  In early January 2009, Nike released the final two colourways for the Vapor IVs: citron/charcoal and charcoal/max orange. The citron colourway has been especially popular with professional players, and was worn by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
caption: Drogba wearing a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor football boots.
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