Tradition dictates that with every World Cup there is a new official ball used for the tournament. But it seems that with every new ball there also comes a great deal of controversy.
It is hard to think of a World Cup that has gone by where a player or a coach has not complained about the ball.
"The ball is dreadful," .. There are undoubtedly going to be some goals scored in this tournament which in previous tournaments with different balls wouldn't have been scored. It'll allow some people to score extra goals, but leave some goalkeepers looking daft."
But unlike past World Cups where strikers and goalkeepers were divided over the merits of the ball, this year those in-goal have been backed up by some on-field players too.
According the Jabulani's creator Adidas, revolutionary "grip and groove" technology combines with high-tech 3-D panels to make a ball which is both perfectly round and extremely aerodynamic.
But a string of top players from the 32 participating World Cup teams have complained that the more lightweight ball is hard to control and can be unpredictable in the air.
With all the current hype about the Jabulani, I thought it would be a good time to point out the review of the ball that we did back in January. Goalkeepers seem to be the primary ones discussing and denouncing the World Cup ball because of its unpredictability. After testing, I nicknamed it the ‘Dancer’ for exactly that reason, it definitely moves in the air. If you are a striker you automatically have an advantage!
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