Adidas’ Football Icons Star in New Brand Campaign Celebrating What’s Possible When Tackling Pressure

Adidas launched the next in a series of brand campaigns to help “disarm negative pressure in sport.” Bringing together soccer icons from its global football family, Adidas reported it “aims to show what is possible when managing the weight of expectation.”

The latest campaign illustrates how, alongside the excitement, international football can add pressure to each player’s game with “research showing that players are three times more likely to miss a penalty when playing for their nation than their club.”

Tapping into this, Adidas offers a film spotlighting Gianluigi Donnarumma, Giovanni Reyna, Ousmane Dembélé and Pedri, among others, to “inspire next-gen athletes to overcome pressure and fuel their love for the game.”

Narrated by England’s soccer legend David Beckham, the film reminds players, whether competing as defending champions or making their tournament debut, “to reframe pressure and focus on the positive rallying cry ‘You Got This’ as they walk onto the pitch at this year’s biggest football tournaments.”

Watch the film here or click on the image above.

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In the film, Dembele and Santi Jimenez debut the new Adidas F50 football boots, which will be seen on the pitch at the UEFA Champions League Final before the summer of football. Then, in the final scene, Jude Bellingham plays soccer in the backyard with local athletes at home in Birmingham. “It serves to remind athletes worldwide where their love for the game started and how dreams can become a reality when backed by the thought, ‘You Got This‘.“

A recent study conducted by Adidas and leading sport neuroscientists, Neuro11, revealed the impact pressure can have on the performance of elite and grassroots athletes.

Dr Niklas Häusler, co-founder of Neuro11 said, “Pressure is universally felt by all athletes, even those playing at the top of the game, with research suggesting that the feeling is amplified when competing at international level, players are three times as likely to miss the goal when taking a penalty for their country than for their club team2. However, our recent testing with a selection of Adidas athletes revealed that when the players had the right management techniques, they were up to 40 percent more effective at harnessing pressure during high-stakes moments. By channeling their focus to implement their set routines, they can realize their biggest hopes his summer.”

Speaking ahead of competing at EURO 2024™, England midfielder Jude Bellingham shared: “When you first play for your national team, it comes with a higher level of pressure and one you have to adapt to quickly. From playing at a high level at such a young age, I’ve learned pressure is more of a responsibility; it can be hard to play under pressure. The advice I live by is when the feeling of pressure arrives, you have to remember why you’re playing, for me, going into this summer’s tournament, I’ll remember that I play for the love of the game and bring the feeling of pressure into the fold to push me to reach the highest level I can.”

On the next chapter of the brand campaign, Florian Alt, VP of global brand communications at adidas said: “We want to celebrate and support our players ahead of a huge summer of football as they continue to inspire the up-and-coming generation of athletes. This campaign serves to remind us all that pressure can be felt at any level, no matter the accolades or achievements. Our ambition remains to help disarm negative pressure in sport and encourage elite and grassroot players to reconnect with what ignited their love for the game. We hope our rallying cry, ‘You Got This‘, invites athletes of all levels to overcome pressure and achieve their personal possibilities in sport.”