The 10 best forgotten commercial on football

When we tell you the story and events of a brand, the reference to television commercials is a fundamental part of the narrative, especially if the temporal context is that relating to the last thirty years, in which the mass communication of the streetwear reference brands sports (and not only) has gone through the commercials that have entered the collective imagination becoming the expression of a certain generational pop culture; others, however, ended up on the back burner, inexplicably received.

For example, when we talked about Diadora and Roberto Baggio we could and should have referred to this place relating to the 2003/2004 season in which some of the reference players of the Serie A of those years are present - in addition to the 'Divin Codino' Cordoba, Inzaghi, Vieri, Camoranesi - and above all Pierluigi Collina, also referee who can boast a recognition equal to that of the players, so much so that he ended up on the cover of the cult video game of those years.

Diadora: ''Collina scores'' - 2003

It was not, however, the first time of a leading referee. At that time Pepsi tried to win the eternal battle with Coca Cola using the faces of the most popular footballers in the world in a series of very colorful and innovative advertising campaigns for settings, narrations, music and contexts: just remember ''Gladiators'' ( Francesco Totti is also present) or the western re-release of the legendary Champions League quarter-final between Manchester United and Real Madrid - that of Ronaldo's hat-trick in Old Trafford.

There was, however, also a certain adherence to reality, to the extent that the great rivalries between European clubs were re-proposed in the form of spots. In 1999 the great classic of the decade between Juventus and Manchester United also found space in the advertisements of the second most famous soft drink in the world. Small detail: in the draw in midfield the referee had used the coin to the distributor to treat himself, in fact, a Pepsi.

Pepsi: ''Final Coin'' - 1999

A masterpiece that pairs with the more well-known one of the boy who, in the tunnel that leads from the field to the changing rooms, asks Beckham for his shirt...just to clean the edge of the can from which the English champion drank.

Pepsi: ''Can I have your shirt?'' - 2001

But when it comes to forgotten commercials, giants like Nike and adidas also do their part. In particular, between 2000 and 2001 the swoosh company launched a high-impact advertisement: "Soccer Freestyle" in which real players battle with skills with professional freestylers, anticipating the most iconic adv.

Nike: ''Ronaldinho vs Stickman'' - 2001

In more recent times it deserves a mention of "My Time is Now" of 2012 - with a lot of testimonials soon "on loan" from another sport: let's see if you can find it - which takes up the mood from Cavalcata delle Valchirie which adidas had used a few years earlier for the launch of the second generation of F50.

Nike: ''My Time is Now'' - 2012

But even between the late 90s and early 2000s the brand of the "three stripes" had released some spots of absolute cult. In 1996, for the launch of the "Predator Touch" the German company thought of a sort of "Clone Wars" among its best known players (trained by a Franz Beckenbauer) and their "copies", in the most classic of Rossi against Blu.

adidas: ''Clones'' - 1996

The main character of the adv is Alessandro del Piero, in a historical moment in which Italian footballers are the absolute protagonists of the world football scene. A few years later, in fact, another player, Roberto Baggio - who had decided the fate of our national team during the 1994 World Cup - will appear on television screens to launch the motto ''with Wind you are not wrong''. And here the telephone company gives the "Divin Codino" the opportunity to remedy an error that will remain in the memory of the Italians for a long time.Wind: ''Baggio segna'' - 2000

The Italian championship had already been the protagonist ten years before another advertisement, this time for the food sector, in which the strongest players in our championship had come together to inspire millions of young people to follow in their footsteps under the motto of ''Win champion'': Gullit, Vialli, Cabrini, Matthëus and Ruben Sosa in fact change and enter the field with children.

Ferrero: ''Vinci campione'' - 1990

In 1999, however, it is Umbro who creates what about 20 years later will be called "hype", or rather a great expectation towards an item that must be presented. In this case it was the new kit that the English national team would begin to use in 2000 and the creators of Umbro have managed to increase the desire to see that shirt with a commercial as forgotten (and little seen) in Italy as it is brilliant.

Umbro: ''Enlgand kit'' - 1999

We close with a 1994 Nike gem, in the year of the American World Cup, when Cantona, Schultz, Wright, Romario, Bebeto and Campos, make the ball perform a symbolic tour of the world. In less than 80 days, of course.