With less than a week to go for Euro 2016, the focus shifts to the quadrennial tournament in France that kicks off on 10 June when the hosts take on Romania in the first group stage fixture. An all-new format sees 24 teams battling it out for continental supremacy in the 15th edition of the month-long tournament.
As with every international tournament, one thing always ends up being a talking point by itself – the football used. Over the years, players and fans have witnessed the evolution of the ball as more complex scientific processes go into designing what goes into the sphere that is eight inches in diameter.
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Euro 2016 will see an Adidas football by the name Beau Jeu – meaning ‘Beautiful Game’. It was unveiled in November last year by France legend Zinedine Zidane and was a ball that took 18 months to develop. According to Adidas, the ball has “improved grip and enhanced in-flight visibility”.
With that in mind, we look back at some of the more memorable footballs used in recent international tournaments.
1) Fevernova – 2002 World Cup
The 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan was a tournament of many upsets and a number of those results were attributed to the design of the ball. FIFA regulations give floor and ceiling values for how much the ball’s circumference and weight can be and this ball was designed to meet the floor value of the circumference while nearing the upper limit for weight; meaning it was smaller but heavier than traditional balls at the time – an odd combination to improve trajectory.
It is no wonder then that many players were unhappy with the design. None more so than Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who said it was a “ridiculous kiddie's bouncing ball”. And it wasn’t exactly on the heavy side either. Rivaldo, one of Brazil’s best players at the tournament, actually detested the ball claiming it travelled too far when it was kicked.
The ball itself was 435g and 3mm thick with a number of layers in between. One such layer was made of foam with microscopic gas bubbles embedded inside it. The outer layer was made of natural rubber and synthetic polystyrenes (polyurethane). The outer design had triangular shapes on the hexagons with colours revolving around east Asian cultures.
2) Europass – Euro 2008
So named because of the actual pass between the two host countries of Euro 2008 – Austria and Switzerland – it was also a symbolic description of the camaraderie between the fans who attended the tournament. The design was a throwback to the old days when the ball was black-and-white but with a slight twist.
The Europass football was not stitched in the form of hexagons and pentagons. Instead, 14 different panels were used and stitched together using thermal bonding. The ball was popular not only with goalkeepers who had improved grip on the ball but also outfield players who liked it for its handling and ball control. The outer layer was also conducive to adding a swerve to the ball when needed while also improving accuracy.
The base colour was silver-white but 12 big black dots covered the surface of the ball. And it wasn’t completely black. Each dot had ‘watermarks’ with various graphics that symbolised things such as friendship, fans and even the winning goal.
3) Teamgeist – 2006 World Cup
Adidas and Molten Corporation got together to design this ball. It was the first ball to reduce the number of panels from the traditional 32 panels of modern 20th century balls to just 14 panels. The sleek black-and-white design was a tribute to the host nation – Germany – where Adidas is also headquartered.
The name translates to ‘Team Spirit’ and was named so due to the Germans’ focus on teamwork rather than relying only on individual skills. The design has fewer seams and stitches making it uniformly spherical. The design was meant to provide greater accuracy in the shots due to its near-perfect spherical nature.
What set it apart from the rest was the fact that it was meant to be waterproof. That meant that the characteristics of the ball did not change depending on whether the ball was dry or wet. FIFA regulations stipulated that any ball could not see an increase of more than 10% in weight when wet and Teamgeist only saw a 0.1% increase.
While it was popular with most players, it did not sit too well with Brazil’s Roberto Carlos who claimed it was too light. Goalkeepers such as England’s Paul Robinson complained that its behaviour was like a water-polo ball when wet.
4) Jabulani – 2010 World Cup
The Adidas Jabulani (meaning ‘Celebrate’ in Zulu) was the next step in the evolution of the football and was constructed out of only 8 panels, down from 14 panels – all of which were spherically moulded. Adidas described the ball to have a technology called “Grip ‘n’ Groove” that saw the surface of the ball contain grooves to improve aerodynamics.
The base colour was pure white with triangular elements evenly spaced out. At first glance, it did not seem to have many colours but actually had 11 different textures. The number 11 was significant not only for the number of players on each team but also because the host nation, South Africa, had 11 official languages. The ball’s latex bladders were made in India but the ball was made in China with a thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer imported from Taiwan.
However, the ball was roundly criticised by players from various teams. The biggest complaints came from goalkeepers such as Spain’s Iker Casillas and Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon. “It is very sad that a competition so important as the world championship will be played with such a horrible ball,” said Casillas.
On the other hand, Buffon was not one to mince words and said, “The new model is absolutely inadequate and I think it’s shameful letting us play such an important competition, where a lot of champions take part, with a ball like this.”
5) Brazuca – 2014 World Cup
Brazuca (a colloquial term for ‘our fellow’ or slang for ‘Brazilian’) saw the number of panels reduce even further. The ball which was used at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was made up of only six polyurethane panels. It was supposedly designed to ensure that the same aerodynamic problems that saw the Jabulani criticised were not repeated.
To put it to the test, they even had an aerodynamics expert from NASA test it. Dr Rabi Mehta tested the ball in a wind tunnel and said, “The most important thing on the soccer ball is how much roughness you have. The amount of roughness dictates what the critical speed is going to be at which you get maximum 'knuckling' of the ball.”
Fewer panels saw the ball become smoother due to fewer seams. The spin and curve on the ball is usually affected by the seams which cause a high and low pressure to develop around the ball – the Magnus Effect. Since the ball was smoother, the “knuckling effect” was increased. Hence, they made the surface a little rougher to resolve this issue.
Nevertheless, Buffon still had issues with the ball. “Its trajectory is unpredictable,” he said. Even Brazil striker Luis Fabiano said its trajectory was ‘supernatural’.
