Soccer: Players put boot into cup ball

YOKOHAMA - The World Cup has not even started, but the ball has already come in for a good kicking.

Depending on which player you ask, the Fevernova ball that sports equipment maker adidas says provides the ultimate soccer experience is uncontrollable, too big or just plain stupid.

The ball also has its fans, such as England skipper David Beckham, but so far they seem to have been outnumbered by critics.

"It is like one of those crazy bouncing balls that you play with when you are a kid," Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pronounced, becoming the latest in a long line of players to criticise the high-tech ball.

Adidas says the ball, splashed with gold colouring, is quite simply the best around - 25 per cent more accurate than the ball used in France in 1998 thanks to meticulous testing by scientists in Germany.

"It's the best ball we've ever made," said Anne Putz, corporate public relations manager for adidas, which has made the balls for every World Cup since 1970.

"I think some of the players have yet to get used to the change in colour and design."

The tongue-twisting nature of its contents confirms that the World Cup ball has come a long way from the leather-and-laces variety that was common as recently as the 1960s.

The Fevernova's secret, adidas says, is its radically improved syntactic foam and unique knitted Raschel fabric.

Given that this is supposed to make the ball faster and provide the free-kick specialists such as Beckham with more power, it may not be surprising that goalkeepers like Buffon are unhappy.

Spain goalkeeper Pedro Contreras said the ball acted "strangely," while Danish keeper Thomas Sorensen admitted glumly that it would probably result in more spectacular goals.

"As a goalkeeper, you have to live with the fact that the makers create balls for the benefit of strikers," he said.

But outfield players have also weighed in with criticism, many saying the ball is too light and therefore hard to control.

"It's big and it's too light," Brazilian forward Edilson complained, and striker Rivaldo said it soared too far when kicked.

Putz admitted the ball was on the light side of Fifa's 420g to 445g weight requirement, but said it was no bigger than previous balls.

The controversy over the ball also has an off-pitch dimension. Industry insiders said it might be no coincidence that players from Brazil, sponsored by adidas rival Nike, have been among the ball's most vociferous critics.

The same might go for the praise dished out by Beckham, one of the main players used to promote adidas equipment.

- REUTERS

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