Jun
2
World Cup ball “better suited for beach”
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Spain’s Iker Cassilas, Brazil’s Julio Cesar and England’s Joe Hart are just some of the World Cup goalkeepers who have come out in interviews lately complaining about the official ball that will be used at the tournament.
Cassilas described it as a “beach ball”, because of the unpredictable ways it swerves in the air, and even said it might ruin the whole competition. A number of outfield players have also complained, citing its erratic trajectory in the air as their biggest concern. According to these comments, it’s very hard for defenders and goalkeepers to judge the flight of the ball, which might lead to a lot of strange and embarrassing goals.
Of course, we won’t know how bad it is until the opening game, but anyone who has followed news surrounding previous World Cups knows this is nothing new. Whenever a new ball is introduced and players have to get used to it, there seems to be a flurry of complaining that springs out. The good news is that, for the most part, there haven’t been too many problems during the actual matches, which will hopefully be the case here.
One can accuse developers of trying to “spice things up” a little too much, but it’s easy to see why goalkeepers would be the most concerned. Outfield players can miss a pass or a header and it’s not the end of the world, but if a goalkeeper makes a mistake, it’ll end up in the back of the net.