Billy Hoyle, the esteemed philosopher from the classic film White Men Can’t Jump, said some players would rather look good and lose than look bad and win. Perhaps he had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in mind.
Aubameyang turned heads on Monday when he took the field before a Ligue 1 (French first division) game wearing diamond-encrusted soccer cleats, according to the Mail.
The 23-year-old sported customized green Nike Vapors, which contain 4,000 Swarovski crystals. Crystal artists from the Austrian jeweler Swarovski AG took over 50 hours to design them. The shoes reportedly cost £2,500 (just over $4,000).
Included in the design were Aubameyang’s name, initials and number (seven). The dark green hue matches Saint Etienne’s colors and a crystal replica of the club crest appears on one of the heels.
Aubameyang, who has a reputation for being flamboyant, was ecstatic when presented with the cleats. He proudly wore them for his pregame warm-up, but changed into normal soccer cleats before kickoff. The Gabon international was unable to lead his team to victory, as Saint-Etienne lost 1-0 against Lyon.
Who knows what would have happened had he ignored Hoyle’s advice and wore the Swarovski specials.
Take a look at Aubameyang’s crystal cleats below (via Facebook/Pierre Emerick Aubameyang Fans).
Have a question for Marcus Kwesi O’Mard? Send it to him via Twitter at @NESNsoccer, NESN Soccer’s Facebook page or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
Thumbnail photo via Facebook/Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
