World Cup 2010: Ball quality issues arise
David James, the English goalkeeper is among the many players that have complained about the balls being used in the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Some really surprising quality issues with the balls not being up to the standard have erupted. Issues relating to its weight as well as composition have been brought onto the foray just before the kick-off of football’s mega-event in South Africa.
Teams participating in the event have expressed their concerns regarding the ball’s unpredictable capability to swing on its own. Goalkeepers are the ones specially affected from this erratic behaviour and their voices are the most likely ones to be heard. World class players like Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Brazilian Julio Cesar and Spanish Iker Casillas have complained about the weightlessness and erratic flight of the Adidas Jabulani ball.
James explained that Frank Lampard’s free-kick against Japan on Sunday is a perfect illustration of the ball’s unpredictable flight. Lampard’s shot plunged brusquely while it was in flight which surprised everyone in deep defence.
James told the media, “The ball is dreadful – it’s horrible, but it’s horrible for everyone.” That certainly is true and teams with major strikers of the ball will have to work harder than before to adjust to this new ball.
James confirmed the same when he said, “There’s no real way of coping, other than lots of shooting practice.”
He also told that the outcome of the event would be very exciting; describing further that the players will be able to make shots that were impossible before, especially by the mid-fielders and centre-forwards. So the team with the best strikers and mid-fielders will have a greater edge from the others.
James said, “It’ll be interesting. There are undoubtedly going to be some goals scored in this tournament which in previous tournaments – with different balls – wouldn’t have been scored”.
He added that luck will play a bigger role this time round. He clarified his statement by saying, “It will allow some people to score extra goals, but leave some keepers looking daft.”
James (Portsmouth) is still in contention with Joe Hart (Manchester City) and Robert Green (West Ham United) for winning the honour to become the last line of defence for England.
Australian manager Pim Verbeek was one person who in spite of facing massive problems with his teams passing during their 1-0 victory over Denmark refused to complain about the Adidas ball.
The Dutchman did however acknowledge that "it didn't look good" in the match. Both team were facing flawed passing along with awkward strikes on the net.
Verbeek made his statement clearer by saying, “It didn't look good, that’s clear,” and the added, “Hopefully it will be better, (but) we’re not going to complain about field or balls.”
He told the media that the ball gave a lot of trouble particularly when it was in flight, "Those (high) balls are very difficult in this environment. We also were struggling when we had the ball.”
Changes in the altitude and atmosphere can have surprising effects on the football. But Verbeek was not really concerned about it. South Africa is the prime place for different climatic environments and that can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the matches. Matches for the FIFA World Cup 2010 are going to be held in very different circumstances and weather conditions. If the match is held near the sea, the ball acts differently, in comparison to stadiums within the mainland. Then of course the altitude, rain and grass will also add in to the drama. On top of that, with a ball like this, there are going to be massive changes which are going to be made by the participating teams.
Verbeek said, ‘We did well defensively, playing a very compact game but we struggled when we had the ball.” In reference to his strategy to face the ball issue he simply said, “We still need time to adjust to the altitude.”
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