Yep, it's only the England team moaning about the ball, isn't it??

http://www.kickoff.com/news/15932/enyeama-jabulani-will-disgrace-keepers.php

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article483192.ece/Jabulani-worst-ball-of-them-all–Serbian-goalie

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/WorldCup/TournamentNews/Eriksson-calls-for-ball-review-20100616

oh, erm……wait a minute……….

http://www.kickoff.com/news/15932/enyeama-jabulani-will-disgrace-keepers.php

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article483192.ece/Jabulani-worst-ball-of-them-all–Serbian-goalie

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/WorldCup/TournamentNews/Eriksson-calls-for-ball-review-20100616

oh, erm……wait a minute……….

But have any decent teams complained about it as much?

there was me thinking that England was just shite and that most of the country was getting carried away supporting a team with little chance of winning

Missing the point there somewhat.. I mean totally.

Yeah but the skilful teams who don't need to lump it up the field aren't having as many problems with their sneaky passing game.

Like Spain you mean, or Brazil?

Have you people not noticed how many good teams have failed to score many goals? They have been in many cases cutting defences apart and having loads of shots and even more crosses, and nothing is finding its target. Points the finger at the ball imo.

For an article on the effect of altitude on ball flight see
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627635.800-feeling-the-pressure-the-world-cups-altitude-factor.html

The World Cup draw: altitude will be the key

and if you have silverlight, see a 3D demo at shotsim.co.uk

shameless promotion over.

Si C

>I can't recall any weird ball movement in the games I've watched so far

You must have missed the Brazil game then.

allthepies – exactly what I sad. Heres the ball 'not bending' again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpQ0EtEysU

Like Spain you mean, or Brazil?

Spain's problem was finishing, Brazil played against a microcosm of a dictatorship. I've just watched Argentina consistently control and pass to the feet over a range of distances the so-called problem ball. We don't value skill as much as we value 'effort, passion, strength, speed," and every other physical attribute that we fetishize at the expense of technique and tactical acumen.

It's a fair point heathenWoods but I think that needs to be added rather than taken away from the other attributes as if you look at the champs league it has been dominated by English teams for the past few seasons. The so called top 4 nearly always reaching the later stages. I would hate to play like the italians so so dull.

I love the football threads on here.

England are 5th favorites to win (out of 32 finalists let alone how many countries tried) so that in my opinion gives us the right to think we can have a chance of winning.

The ball is shite. i agree with molgrips statement.

"the ball is a ball its round" comment well by your definintion a bike is a bike. As bikes have wheels, (sometimes) gears, seats etc.

That's fair enough but it's always the overseas players that we look to for the winning ball etc.

You must have missed the Brazil game then.

Maicon deliberately bent the ball with the outside of his foot. He's known for it and had apparently scored a few like that in training. Nothing weird about the movement of the ball.

England are 5th favorites to win (out of 32 finalists let alone how many countries tried) so that in my opinion gives us the right to think we can have a chance of winning.

I think betting is skewed as the majority of the nation will have a tenner on England to win as the heart rules. We probably have the worst team we've had since 86, but we've had the best qualifying campaign for some time, we will always struggle against the weaker teams are we are not particularly good at breaking down a stubborn 11 man defence. when the oppo are coming forward and trying to score we have the players to exploit the space. That's why we demolished croatia home and away.

england are playing at sea level the next 2 games so if adidas are correct there will be no excuses.

Nothing weird about the movement of the ball.

So it's you, who's likely never seen one of these balls, vs a load of pro footballers who are trying to play with it day in day out.

Hmm.. who to listen to… toughie that one…

So it's you, who's likely never seen one of these balls, vs a load of pro footballers who are trying to play with it day in day out.

Hmm.. who to listen to… toughie that one…

There's no need to be like that.

I'm just going by the following.

1. The ball is no lighter than any previous modern football.
2. As far as I can see the ball doesn't move strangely.
3. I'm ignoring what goalkeepers say because they ALWAYS complain about the ball. A trawl back through the BBC archives shows this.
4. The Jabulani was used in the last African Nations Cup, plus professional leagues for the last 6 months (Germany, United States, South Africa, and Argentina) with no major complaints.

All of a sudden now it's being described as 'a disaster' and 'the worst ever'. Just doesn't add up to me. As you point out, it's pro footballers making these comments, so why do they think it's lighter? Given that most of the complaints are about the ball's behaviour in the air I think the altitude has a lot to do with it. I think when it comes to long balls, crosses, and shots etc. the ball is just moving that bit faster which makes it difficult for players to judge the flight, leading to mistakes.

Anyway these are merely my thoughts. Don't lose any sleep over them. 😉

Another goal keeping error from Nigeria just now. There has been quite a few. More than I can remember from any other tournament.