Every four years, the complaints begin anew. It's perennially the biggest non-story surrounding the World Cup.
We're talking of course, about The Ball.
This year's Cup will be played with the "Jabulani," a ball manufactured by one of FIFA's biggest sponsors, adidas. It's a thermal-bonded, eight-panel ball that alleges to do away with seams, forming a smaller, slightly heavier ball that its manufacturer claims will allow it to fly truer.
So what do the players and coaches think of the new ball?
Not much.
Italy's star goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon called it a "beachball." His striker teammate Giampaolo Pazzini labeled it a "disaster for strikers." Denmark manager Morten Olsen said it's "impossible." And Brazil 'keeper Julio Cesar compared it unflatteringly to supermarket stock.
Adidas, not surprisingly, has rejected these criticisms, and trotted out, ahem, some of its own endorsers to defend the product. Kaka, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack all stood by their paychecks and sung the ball's praises.
There is serious cash on the line: adidas is selling these balls to fans for nearly $125 a pop, and they go quickly. In 2006, adidas sold a reported 10 million units of the previous World Cup ball, the "Teamgeist." This World Cup, both adidas and bitter rivals Nike expect to combine for nearly $4 billion in sales of associated merchandise. With all that money, there's a bit of guerilla warfare going on.
Prior to every competition, players complain about the ball. Usually, they are players from rival endorsement companies, and almost all of them are goalkeepers. This year, to be fair, the criticism is coming from field players and coaches as well. (On that: considering adidas outfits the Danish national team, it's almost certain that Olsen is getting a strong lecture tonight.) That doesn't mean the criticism is fair or accurate. What it means is that sportsmen, a superstitious lot, don't like change.
To be fair to the players, some of their complaints are not without merit. After all, soccer is the only major sport to change its most important piece of equipment prior to major competitions, purely for financial reasons. In most sports, the basic equipment remains the same. The NHL will not be rolling out a new puck next Stanley Cup or mandating new sticks made for the final any more than baseball will suddenly force playoff games to be played with composite bats. Also in other sports, the leagues usually listen to the athletes. When NBA players groused about a synthetic ball back in the 2006-07 season, the league reversed course promptly, deciding that the quality of play was more important than a few extra bucks at Wal-Mart.
Not so for soccer, a sport whose governors have leveraged and monetized to lengths that would make even George Steinbrenner blush. Every die-hard fan is by now used to the pressure to buy the new jersey of the season. Casual players are besieged by ads for "new and improved" cleats. Virtually every major competition (including our own MLS) gets a new ball. If they could figure out a way to sell new goalposts, corner flags and lime, you better believe that soccer would sell that too.
One thing is for sure about the new World Cup ball. It will be kicked into play on June 11th. Goals will be scored, and keepers will make saves. A couple of players will make excuses, and those excuses will be ignored. In other words, life will go on just as it does at every World Cup.
And, in 2014, adidas will roll out a new ball.
