Teamgeist (team spirit) is the unusual name of the adidas match ball that will be used in the upcoming World Cup.
For the ball colours, however, the designers stuck with traditional black and white — except for the final in Berlin. The teams fighting for the championship title on July 9 will be kicking a gold-and-white ball.
Even balls used in the opening round are of value as collectors’ items as all match balls will bear the names of the teams, the date of the match and the place and stadium where it was played.
Even before the tournament gets under way, some stars were pouring praise on the ball’s design. ”In training, all the players have been impressed. The ball goes exactly where you want it to go,” said England captain David Beckham.
”I like the ball. For attackers, it is very good,” said Brazilian star midfielder Kaka.
The development of the high-tech ball took three years and its material and structure is designed to give players unrivalled accuracy.
The familiar five- and six-sided sections have been replaced with tongue-and propeller-shaped panels. Fewer seams on the outside also mean that the kicker’s foot meets a smoother, perfectly-rounded surface.
A layer of polyurethane-based foam underneath the outer skin favours a more precise ball trajectory and a special sealing technique also ensures that the ball is more water-resistant than traditional balls.
Teamgeist is made by a Thai company, Molton. About 1 000 workers, mostly women, work shifts to assemble the balls through a special heating and sealing process.
Adidas hopes to sell 10-million copies of the match ball, beating the record of the 2002 World Cup ball Fevernova, which sold six-million. The new ball costs about €110 in German sports shops. – AFP
