Why doesn’t Cristiano Ronaldo wear black boots?

Even casual fans may notice that Cristiano Ronaldo never wears black boots, whether it’s for Real Madrid or Portugal. But it’s not just about being flashy.

According to Max Blau, a vice president at Nike, it’s all about giving Ronaldo a competitive advantage.

"Every player has their favorite color, and it’s been scientifically proven that the color of the boots activates chemicals in the player’s mind,” Blau told Goal USA. “When you feel better, you play better. The main reason of the color is to give confidence.

"For example, Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t like to wear black boots because he says black looks slow and he wants to feel fast.”

That reasoning would sound a little silly except it’s apparently backed by science.

"The same individual under the same conditions will have a better performance if he wears a better product,” Blau went on.

It’s hard to argue with that, then — we’ll trust the cleat experts on this one. We wonder what science says about Ronaldo’s new limited-edition gold and white boots that Nike put out, but we’re sure they work just fine.