Today,
Nike launched the second part of its ‘Risk Everything’ Football campaign for
2014 with a film called “Winner Stays.”
While Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr. and Wayne Rooney are back, they are
now joined by a host of other football superstars and a few special guests.
Davide
Grasso, Chief Marketing Officer for Nike, comments: “We connect to players’
passion for the game, whether it is the world’s best in Brasil or players in
the park or street. ‘Winner Stays’ taps into an experience that every young
player around the world will recognize – competition with friends and the idea
of playing with your heroes or pretending to be them.”
The
film opens on a park with two teams challenging each other in a pick-up game
where the winner stays on. Straight away as the challenge is set, the stakes
are raised: “Guess I’m Cristiano Ronaldo then,” says one. His opponent responds
saying, “Yeah? Well I’m Neymar.”
In
a split second a seemingly simple game between friends has become a grudge
match of sorts, aided by the unique skills of some of the world’s greatest
footballing talent. As the match develops, players call out the names of
players to possess their specific skill, and before we know it Wayne Rooney,
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain have joined the game.
Ronaldo
scores a screamer to send his team 1-0 up and taunts one of his opponents,
saying “The crowd goes wild,” upon which a crowd is revealed cheering behind
him. His rival is not deflated and points out that 50,000 are screaming his
name. As they banter the young player changes his shoes in to the Magista, a
boot that’s not even out yet. Ronaldo counters to give us the world’s first
glimpse of the new Mercurial Superfly.
The match continues and more players join the action: Gerard Pique makes a last-ditch tackle, David Luiz appears to be cloned, and a mix-up sees one boy’s dream of becoming Andrés Iniesta shattered in a fun moment of mistaken identity. This is a match for the ages.
Neymar
breaks free to lob the keeper to make it 1-1 and the real Iniesta adds to his
team’s tally by scoring a volley to make it 2-1. Rooney responds with a
long-range effort to make it 2-2 and the Jumbotron announces “Next Goal Wins!”
As
time is running out and both teams cautiously try to avoid any mistakes, the
last remaining player yet to transform is brought down inside the box by David
Luiz. Ronaldo steps up to take the penalty but is pushed aside by the brave
youngster, who seizes his moment to risk everything and take responsibility for
the game-defining moment.
“We’re
proud of our history of inspirational, fun football campaigns that become one
of the talking points around big tournaments. We believe in fearless, exciting
joyful football and that’s the point of view we want to get across ” Grasso
added.
“Nike
players play on the edge because they know great moments spring from attempts
to try something unique and out of the ordinary. We watch the game for these
moments because they inspire us to create our own,” Grasso added. “This is what Risk Everything is about. If
you are prepared to take those risks, there is no telling what you can do.”
The
full list of players featured in the film is: Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr.,
Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimović,
Gonzalo Higuaín, Eden Hazard, Andrea Pirlo, Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta, Mario
Götze, Thiago Silva, Thibaut Courtois, Tim Howard, David Luiz and… David Luiz.
“Winner
Stays” also features a host of other athletes and special guests including Kobe
Bryant, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Irina Shayk and The Incredible Hulk.
