Review: PUMA King Diego Finale i Soccer Boots

PUMA continues the 40-year lineage of its King series with the release of the PUMA King Finale i soccer boot. Along with the standard version of the shoe, PUMA has released a special edition of the boot inspired by Argentina, Boca Juniors and Napoli legend Diego Maradona via the PUMA King Diego Finale i.

According to PUMA:

Football great Diego Maradona played nearly his entire career in PUMA. The PUMA King Diego Finale commemorates our relationship with the man and the legend, and salutes him on his 50th birthday on October 30, 2010.

This boot takes its design inspiration from the 1986 PUMA Mexico Finale and brings it to new life with Maradona branding and Argentina’s colors of sky blue and white. It utilizes the PUMA AptoLast, providing a snug fit. The upper is a premium K-leather which shapes to the foot for superior ball touch. The outsole is made of a lightweight high-performance material while a traditional fold over tongue provides a clean kicking area.

This special edition King Diego Finale includes a shoe bag, cleaning kit, and leaflet.

Over the past few weeks we’ve been conducting a boot test of the PUMA King Diego Finale i. This is our review of it from a former NCAA Division 1 player still playing on a regular basis.

The Test
Since my local league is on break until next spring, my weekly soccer games are now all pick-up on winter-worn fields. My review of the PUMA King Diego Finale i is therefore based on one boot break-in session and two fairly competitive pick-up matches.

Aesthetics
PUMA’s soccer boot designers have been among the best in the business during the 2010/11 period. At times, as is the case with the King Diego Finale i, they do such a good job that the resulting boots look too good to put on and subject to the abuse of soccer matches.

Upon first sight of the PUMA King Diego Finale i I was astounded by how well-designed it was. It maintains the PUMA King classic look of the 1970s and 80s while melding in a few modern touches and an Argentina-inspired colorway. In fact, I thought that these boots look so good that they would be just at home in a soccer museum display case as they would on the playing field.

One extremely nice touch that PUMA has included with the King Diego Finale i is an extremely classy leatherette boot bag complete with cleaning brushes and cloth. These alone would probably run for at least $30 if sold separately. In fact, the boot bag is the nicest that I have ever seen included with a pair of soccer cleats.

Fit
I used a pair of size 9.5 US PUMA King Diego i boots. I wear size 10 US for my everyday shoes but like my soccer cleats to fit snug. The King Diego i boots in size 9.5 fit me perfectly. Therefore, I would say that they run true to size.

A great fit-related features of the PUMA King Diego i is the fact that the boot’s tongue can be raised about an inch above the it to give the wearer ample room to slip the shoe on. No more struggling to get your feet into soccer shoes!

One thing that I did find different about these was that they did fit looser towards the heel area. In fact, if you’re not wearing shin guards and a second pair of socks, you mind find this bothersome at first. However, I did become used to the looseness during my break-in session after about 15 minutes. It was not an issue during match situations as I always use shin guards and two pairs of socks.

In-Game Performance
While the PUMA King Diego i maintains the classic style of the King line, it has incorporated modern technology and materials. The result is the lightest PUMA King soccer boots ever at 9.2 oz. This has its obvious benefits given the amount of running that fit outfield soccer players do.

If you’ve ever used a classic-style boot such as previous versions of the PUMA King, the adidas Copa Mundial, Nike Tiempo or Umbro Speciali, playing in the PUMA King Diego i will feel quite natural. The elements of these type of boots are all there – from the stitched and padded forefoot to the rounded cleats. There’s no long period of figuring out how the boots will react because of ultra light weight or no padding or a novel stud configuration.

Because I grew up wearing either adidas Copa Mundials and PUMA Kings, I found playing in the PUMA King Diego i soccer cleats to be almost intuitive after my break -on session in them. The touch of the boot is not unlike the Kings of the past nor is passing, trapping or shooting given that the padding of the PUMA King Diego i follows the trialed and tested. However, the aforementioned lightweight of the boot does make everything a little easier now.

Two in-game features of the PUMA King Diego i worthy of special mention are:

1. Power – I found the PUMA King Diego i to be a great boots for driving long range shots and passes made with the top of the foot. I think this is a result of the combination of padding and light weight that the boot offers. Alternatively, it could be a result of me returning to a well-padded boot after a few months of dabbling with light weight boots that are anything but. Nevertheless, the PUMA King Diego i is an excellent boot for slamming volleys and shots from distance into the back of the net (with practice of course).



2. Traction – The studs on the PUMA King Diego i are a bit longer than those on your everyday soccer boot. They’re almost approach rugby boot length in my humble opinion. As such, their traction is incredible! I used the PUMA King Diego i on fields that have been softened because of light rain and never once slipped or lost my footing. The long studs also provide splendid stability when executing the long range shot and passes mentioned above. My only complaint about them is that they tend to gather dirt which I had to clean off after my games.

Durability
Here’s a look at my PUMA King Diego i boots after my break-in session. As you can see, they’re showing some signs of use because they are white boots being used on dirt. Other than that, they are holding up quite well and appear to be made with the same high quality standards that the PUMA King line is known for. As such, I think that these are not one year and done boots but rather soccer shoes that can last an active player at least 2-3 years.

Final Thoughts
The PUMA King line lives to fight another day in this era of flashy, ultrathin and ultralight speed boots with the PUMA King Diego i leading the charge. Great for just about any position on the field, the PUMA King Diego i maintains the heritage of the line in an excellent fashion. It is also one of the best deals among the current crop of new boot releases at a very reasonable price of $129.99 for a K-leather, 9.2 oz. boot complete with a world class shoe bag and cleaning kit.

The Puma King Diego Finale i is now available at World Soccer Shop.

Check out our Football Boots section for more on the latest soccer footwear.

Thanks to Heather for making this review possible!