Was it the fault of the 'Jabulani' Ball that this year's world cup has not seen many goals...................?

Question

FIFA has finally acknowledged that there may be something wrong with the Jabulani World Cup ball, but won't act on the problem until after the tournament.

Many players have likened the Jabulani to a "supermarket ball," saying it is too unpredictable and flies through the air too easily.

"We're not deaf," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said Saturday at a news conference. "FIFA is not unreceptive about what has been said about the ball."

Valcke said that FIFA will discuss the matter with coaches and teams after the World Cup, then meet with manufacturer Adidas.

"There are rules for size and weight. ... But the ball has to be perfect," he added.

Goalkeepers have complained about the ball at every recent World Cup, although this time forwards and even coaches have added their laments.

Brazil manager Dunga got into a verbal spat with Valcke over the Jabulani before the tournament, challenging the FIFA executive to come out onto the pitch and attempt controlling it.

Denmark defender Daniel Agger said the ball made some outfielders look like "drunken sailors."

The Jabulani could create even more problems in the knockout phase beginning Saturday, since games could be decided by penalty shootouts.

"The balls have changed over the last couple of years, they have become a lot faster and in addition to that in Johannesburg we are playing at an altitude of 1,700 meters, which makes the ball even faster," former Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said. "Thus the goalkeepers work even harder, but I don't think that we can take the ball or the altitude as excuses.

Scoring was down by 16 goals in the first round compared to 2006: 117-101. However, teams played a more defensive style in the group stage in South Africa, so whether the ball is a major factor is difficult to measure.

At this rate, the World Cup would set a low for average goals. Before Saturday's two round of 16 matches, the average is 2.1 goals per game. In 1990, when teams again played defensively -- even in the latter stages of the tournament -- 2.21 goals were scored per game.

Adidas has made the World Cup ball since 1970 and is contracted through 2014. The German company has defended the Jabulani, saying it doesn't know what the fuss is about because all the qualified teams were given the ball before the tournament to test it.

"There's a lot of talk about stadiums, infrastructure and TV and that's nice and all, but first we've got to worry about balls, spikes and jerseys," Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said. "I don't see why we can't just go back to the old black-and-white checkered version we all played with as kids."

As for the aesthetics, Valcke said that the ball had been criticized in the past as too colorful, and that's why this version is more white.

JustDoit · Accepted Answer

There is nothing wrong with the ball. It is the strikers and GKs started it and if you cannot strike or cannot hold the ball properly why blame on the ball. It is another controversy which gets added to the list. Each world cup is not complete without controversies. 

This is all I got to say - if you can't dance then why blame the stage, who asked other teams not to use it in their league games. look at. Germany they used it in their league and it was nothing hidden or secret about it. 

The scores of over 2.0+ is very common in wc, may be 2.6 or so are ideal. But when you have teams that play out 0-0 6 matches out of 48, 13 matches 1-0 then your avg goals will not increase. The cause is not the ball, but the strikers. How can people, players blame so easily on the ball. Each ball used has to meet the weight and size rules. It is ridiculous argument.

Rollo · Answer

No.

The Jabulani has been the  standard ball in the Bundesliga since January and was the match ball for the 2009 African Cup of Nations. They never complained about the ball at all.

The reason why so few goal are being scored at this tournament is because most sides are playing a 4-5-1 formation, which means that they have just a sole striker. Obviously if you play with less strikers, the mentality isn't to score goals but to avoid defeat by putting emphasis on defending.

Actually we have seen this trend develop over the past 20 years, what with Italy and Brazil both adopting it, and then influencing everyone else because it is successful.

? · Answer

Possibly yes.  For sure, I don't see any direct goal from free kicks except for Honda's goal.  Cal Tech tested the ball and concluded that it is unpredictable in the air.  Adidas said players from qualified team had a chance to test it, but for how long?  I don't think they had enough time to get familiar with the ball.  Just noticed from your question that Adidas is German owned.  So Germany better not win the championship.  Or else the company and/or FIFA might end up with a lawsuit.

MB1810 · Answer

Well I'm thinking the parties most affected by the problem of the ball would be the goalkeepers and that by implication we should have seen more goals, not less. So perhaps fingers should be pointed at strikers not making full use of the advantage the ball's unpredictability has given them over the goalkeepers.

Uncle Joey · Answer

Yes. I think FIFA has done everything in their power to ruin the tournament. First they refuse to acknowledge any problems with the ball, then they don't comment on obviously bad calls made by their refs. They shouldn't be worried about picking refs from every continent. They should pick the best refs in the world no matter where they are from.

spleen · Answer

You can see the ball break it's curve and travel in it's original trajectory when hit too hard.
The way seems to be to hit it low or on the ground, but in a game situation it would be hard to change the way you have been playing.
Would have loved some of the games with the old ball for a better spectacle, but this is progress....apparently.

Boise Brett · Answer

Alot of these teams had the ball for a while to play with.  I don't blame the ball at all, I blame the strikes.

geeyen · Answer

Jabulani is not to be faaulted . It is for the playersn  to use ot in its natural way and score

Trending News

Was it the fault of the 'Jabulani' Ball that this year's world cup has not seen many goals...................?

8 Answers