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Nothing new here, it wouldn't be a FIFA tournament without a ty ball.
Nothing new here, it wouldn't be a FIFA tournament without a ty ball.
To be fair, the ball was great in the 80s and early 90's
They complain about this every WC
Yeah, then they developed all this technology to make it better, it's a ing ball!
To be fair, the ball was great in the 80s and early 90's
I know
As technologies offer more possibilities, human beings get dumber in the process
Seems like Casillas always has something to about.
Adidas: Ball feedback had been positive
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Associated Press
LONDON -- Adidas hit back Monday at criticism that the World Cup ball is difficult to control and a nightmare for goalkeepers, stressing that it was widely tested and approved long ago.
Company spokesman Thomas van Schaik said he was surprised to hear the critical comments, made by top goalkeepers such as Spain's Iker Casillas and Brazil's Julio Cesar, because the "Jabulani" balls had been used for months without any complaints.
"We started using it in December in a wide variety of leagues," he told The Associated Press. "All the response we have had has been positive.
"On top of that, we have distributed it to all the finalists so that they have been able to get used to the ball. Apparently they have not taken advantage of that if we are only hearing this criticism now. I am quite surprised in these cir stances."
Brazil has been in South Africa since Thursday and Cesar described the World Cup balls as "terrible," comparing them with cheap ones bought in a supermarket. Casillas said the balls were "in an appalling condition."
Field players have been critical, too. Brazil striker Luis Fabiano described the ball as "weird" and suddenly changing trajectory and Italy's Giampaolo Pazzini said it was "a disaster."
"It moves so much and makes it difficult to control," the Italian striker said. "You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it."
In contrast, several German players have said they were happy with the new ball, although some of them or their clubs have Adidas sponsorship.
Mario Gomez, who scored with the ball for Bayern Munich, said he found it "a little harder."
"It hurts a little, but if you hit it right, it flies," he said.
Asked why the ball behaved differently at al ude, where many of the games will be played in South Africa, Van Schaik said that applied to all balls.
"It does what every ball does [at al ude] and that really doesn't have anything to do with it," he said. "The different air pressure at al ude does make the ball move faster. We did have extensive testing with regard to al ude."
Van Schaik also said he thinks the criticism will taper off once the games start.
"If you look back in history there have always been criticisms about the ball before the World Cup but not so much afterwards after you've seen great goals or great saves," he said.
"The ball is much more accurate, making the best players in the world even better. If they kick the ball they want it to go where they are aiming for and even the goalkeepers get a better idea of where the ball is going."
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
In contrast, several German players have said they were happy with the new ball, although some of them or their clubs have Adidas sponsorship.
I do not like it that this is Casillas' mindset going into the tourney. Makes me nervous that he's already giving himself an excuse for letting soft goals slip in. Shut up and be ready to shut down the net Casillas!
Every goal-keeper in the world has ed about this ball. Julio Cesar said it was a super-market ball.
Its not hard to see through all the bull when you have a new ball for every ing tournament. This isn't about having the best ball, its about marketing. A new ball means something else rabid football fans can sink their teeth and hard earned money into. Its never been about having the best performance in a football.
Yeah, a bunch of the players from the brasil team were ing about it too, most noticibly julio like Daf pointed out. I'm not too worried though, this really does happen every goddamn tournament lol
every year they do something to the ball anyway...
lmao Iker, already making excuses as to why italy is gonna win this year
Yeah, what a bunch of sorry whiners...
The Italians' criticism of the Jabulani ball is relentless. Here's keeper Gianluigi Buffon: "I noticed the first day that this ball wasn't right. The World Cup brings together the best players in the world and to those players you must provide something decent. The new ball is not decent." That after striker Giampaolo Pazzini described it as a "disaster" for strikers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8715254.stm
Wtf - everyone plays with the same ing ball. This is such stupid ing. Disaster for strikers, Disaster for Goalies, so I guess it evens out.
I'm glad to see it's not just Iker ing, but these types of things are what I hate about futbol. On average, futbol players are the biggest whiny pussies in major pro sports. Seriously, can you imagine Peyton Manning ing about the choice of football for a game? Or any NHL player whining about the type of puck? It's ridiculous.
But it'll up the quality of the play.
If they change it for every single tournament (and to make it worse), I do think they would , just look at what happened when Stern changed the ball in the NBA.
Bah, it shouldn't do much. Some of these mother ers grew up playing with a torn up ball in a dirt field. They'll be fine.
True, but that was a one time change from a ball that had been an NBA staple for decades. If they were changing the ball every season or two people wouldn't much. For some reason in international futbol they still like crazy when they should be used to it by now.
why do they have to change it every single WC??
They don't have to, but they do it to fill their pockets just a little more. Greed.
They ed about the last 2 balls like crazy and the quality of play was fine there.
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