Overall, 2007 was a year of incremental improvement and near misses.  The Galaxy added David Beckham and still failed to make the play-offs.  Nike put the Women's National Team in Gold "with no apologies" except that they lost. 

Puma, Kelme, Lotto, Umbro, adidas and Nike all improved on existing models, but did not provide the same type of advancements that we saw in 2006.  Between the Women's World Cup and next year's Olympics, we expected more.  Maybe our testers are just getting spoiled by the high level of equipment that exists today.

2007 allowed us to test products from more manufacturers than ever before.  We also worked with more retailers than the prior year.  Both gave us a broader view of the market than ever before, and more confidence that our selections for the best are the World's Best.

And the best in 2007 are:

• Best Boot Winner - adidas Predator Absolute - The flagship Predator introduced the PowerPulse insert adding weight and inertia to this power platform boot.  Our testers rated this as the best boot ever.  We look forward to testing the updated version.
• Best GK Glove Winner - Reusch Duo Ortho-Tec won hands down (pun intended).  With unanimous voting from our testers and readers, this is another best ever.  The Duo includes a second layer of latex foam inside the glove giving a long lasting pad that everyone appeciated.
• Best Ball Winner - While this race was close, the durability of the Brine Triumph 20-600 (the Official NCAA Championship Ball) just edged out the phenomenal feel of the adidas Teamgeist Match Ball.
• Best Kit Winner - When we balanced value against style and durability, we had our closest race in this year's awards.  The adidas Avantis only edged out our Honorable Mention Protime Sports Boston kit.  Availability of the adidas kit put it over the top.
• Retailer of the Year - This won't surprise too many people.  Eurosport (soccer.com) is among the largest soccer retailers on the net.  They have improved their customer service and selection giving them the nod this year.

AVID Soccer takes the "Innovative Product" award quite seriously.  Unfortunately, we were not able to review the product our research called out as the most promising candidate.  As such, we have chosen not to award a winner in this category this year.

Do you agree with us or did we get it wrong?  Let us know!