As football searches for ways to complete various campaigns, we couldn’t help but think of Nike’s secret tournament.
You know, the one on a ship, in the middle of the sea? Just follow the sound of Elvis and you’ll find it.
If coronavirus means we can’t finish the Premier League season, why not send three players from each team there and let Eric Cantona rule over what happens?
That worked well enough for Nike, who spent about 100 million US dollars on that iconic commercial in 2002.
The sports brand’s incredible roster of talent in the noughties ranged from Ronaldinho to Thierry Henry – and they made full use of it with some spectacular adverts.
But it wasn’t just sports manufacturers like Nike and Adidas. Who could forget those classic Pepsi adverts with David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and co.?
There have been some truly ingenious imaginations of football in the world of advertising down the years. Here, talkSPORT.com ranks the greatest football commercials of all time…
Ray Parlour says beating Tottenham wasn’t the priority when he was at Arsenal – “For me, Arsenal vs Man United was a bigger game.”
Winner Stays On – 2014
As time has passed, football adverts have started to feel a little bit samey.
Following the golden era of the noughties, companies started to run out of original ideas, and some commercials just felt like a modern version of something you’d seen before.
But then Nike upped their game with the ‘Winner Stays On’ advert in 2014.
As someone who still shouts ‘SCHOLES’ when preparing an audacious volley, this one spoke to me.
Everyone remembers buying their favourite player’s boots in the hope of transforming into that player on the pitch.
Nike took that fantasy and turned it into a masterpiece as a kickabout in the park became a high-profile football match, featuring the the game’s greatest players with the whole world watching.
Two years later, they smashed it again with ‘The Switch’ as Cristiano Ronaldo swapped bodies with a young ball boy, but it’s not quite good enough for our esteemed list.
Jose +10 – 2006
Let’s be honest, Adidas played second-fiddle to Nike when it came to adverts.
Besides David Beckham, Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, and Lionel Messi – the game’s most famous players mostly belonged to Nike in the noughties.
Being a German company and following years of iconic adverts from Nike, Adidas had to produce a gem ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. And boy, did they.
Set in Barcelona, Jose and his friend Pedro dream up two fantasy football teams, featuring anyone from history (Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini show up).
But despite being able to pick literally any footballer who has ever existed, Pedro picks Djibril Cisse first, Jermain Defoe third – and sticks the Englishman in goal!
Nonetheless, a brilliant advert.
Anything with Brazil in it – 1998-2006
‘Joga Bonito’ directly translates to ‘play pretty’ in English. Why are other languages so much cooler?
But it’s a phrase which means so much more than that. It’s synonymous with Brazil – and the beautiful football played by the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Roberto Carlos.
If there was ever any sex appeal in football, then Brazil was Nike’s answer to a perfume advert.
In 1998, the sports brand took some Brazilian footballers, put them in an airport, and played a Samba classic over the top to create pure magic on our screens.
It was genius. That Brazil team quickly became a symbol for beautiful football, or Joga Bontio, because you could actually imagine them doing it. They were effortlessly cool.
The adverts which followed, including the one where they juggle a ball about with ease in the changing room before a match, only works if it’s Brazil.
You just can’t imagine Steven Gerrard playing the tambourine while Emile Heskey does a few round-the-worlds.
It all started in the airport, and ended with Cantona narrating the joy of watching a young Ronaldinho in 2006.
“Something I found to remind you how it should be,” the King says. That’s exactly what Nike did.
Pepsi’s Football Warriors – 2004
There have been some incredible Pepsi commercials down the years, too many to include on the list.
Remember the one they did in Africa before the 2010 World Cup? With Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry, Kaka, Lionel Messi and, erm, Andrey Arshavin? That was great.
Going back further, there’s that one where a kid asks for Beckham’s shirt in the tunnel just so he can wipe his germs off a Pepsi can.
But one stands out above the rest, the jewel in Pepsi’s crown. No, it’s not the one where Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink overthrow Emperor Enrique Iglesias.
It’s the other one, when the footy lads get involved. Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Raul, Francesco Totti, Fernando Torres and Rafael van der Vaart save an ancient village from being ransacked for its Pepsi by the Romans.
Enough said.
The Secret Game – 2002
Elvis has more number one hits than any artist in musical history, but to football fans, he’s just the guy who sang the song on that incredible Nike advert.
To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know who Elvis was until 2002.
Featuring 23 genuine legends (and Seol Ki-Hyeon), Nike’s whole roster played out a three-a-side knockout tournament in a cage on some ship somewhere.
Seol’s inclusion alongside Denilson and Ronaldinho appeared strange until you realised their team was called the Funk Seol Brothers, and then you just had to say fair enough.
“Hidden from the world, 24 elite players hold a secret tournament, with eight teams, and only one rule,” it began.
“First goal wins,” Cantona said.
‘A Little Less Conversation’ kicks in and it was clear you were about to watch a masterpiece.
Portugal vs Brazil – 2004
As good as the ‘Secret Tournament’ was, nothing can match the Portugal vs Brazil advert of 2004 for cultural impact.
Kids spent break and lunch desperately trying to nutmeg each other just so they could scream ‘OLE!’
It took years before we reverted back to ‘MEGS’ or ‘NUTS’, depending on what part of England you’re from.
But for a while, we all said ‘ole’, thanks to this piece of pure genius.
