The word “Jabulani,” has been crossing our mind in these past few days and some of us may be wondering what it is all about, yes its official name of the 2010 World Cup soccer ball, means “congratulations” in isiZulu.
Jabulani ball
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In the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan, the official ball was created using 32 panels. The last World Cup ball the Addidas +Teamgeist is a 14 panel ball compared to the Jabulani with 8 panels which it makes it much faster and lighter, Adidas boasted it will “enhance the thrill and excitement” of the game. But there have been a lot of critics concerning this ball.
Brazilian goalkeeper Júlio César compared it to a “supermarket” ball that favored strikers and worked against goalkeepers.
Joe Hart of England, after training with the ball for a number of days, said the “balls have been doing anything but staying in my gloves.”
This ball may be a nightmare for the goal keepers but even the “Messiah” Lionel Messi says, “The ball is very complicated for the goalkeepers and for us [strikers].”
Looking at the start of this World Cup it hasn’t been a goal scoring tournament where in the last eight games, a total of 13 goals were scored, averaging 1.63 goals per match, compared to 2.25 in 2006 or 18 during the first eight matches. Is it because of the Jabulani? We really don’t know.
With much criticism of the ball some stars feel differently.
Brazilian midfielder Kaká said that “For me, contact with the ball is all-important, and that’s just great with this ball.”
German midfielder Michael Ballack said it was “Fantastic, the ball does exactly what I want it to.”
Adidas has said that the ball had been used since January of 2010, and that most feedback from players had been positive. A spokesperson said the company was “surprised” by the negative reaction to the ball.
With much speculations the tournament has just started so boys lets just get on with it.
