Jabulani

Jabulani as the official match ball of the 2010 World Cup

Jabulani is the official name of the match ball for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa and other soccer competitions.

properties

Jabulani, which is sold by the sports manufacturer adidas , was developed in Great Britain at Loughborough University and presented on December 4, 2009 - on the occasion of the preliminary group draw for the World Cup - in Cape Town . Jabulani is isiZulu and translates as “to be happy” or “to convey joy and happiness”. For the final of the World Cup in South Africa, a specially designed ball with a golden color and the name Jo'bulani was used (as was the case for the first time in 2006) , while an orange version called Jabulani Powerorange could be used for games in the snow .

“Our development team worked on Jabulani for more than three years. […] Its surface is made up of eight three-dimensional panels that enclose the inner carcass. In contrast to the past, the individual elements are no longer sewn, but thermally welded. This makes the ball round like never before. Grooves in the surface ensure optimal aerodynamics. "

- Oliver Brüggen, Director PR Market Central at Adidas

The materials come from China, India and Taiwan. There are thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPU), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyester , as well as cotton fabrics . The printing ink for the design is a latex mixture . For the carcass, the cotton fabric is stretched and laminated with latex , then the white EVA panels are cut and cured with UV radiation . The TPU film is printed with the 11 colors in the printing line flat with a printing forme as a web so that the image is undistorted after the formation. The two sheets (TPU and EVA) are glued together and shaped using a high-frequency process. Two halves of the ball, each made up of four panels, are put together and the holes for the valve are centered. The carcass and ball halves are then fixed with air pressure and cooled. 1760 balls were produced exclusively in China every day.

	FIFA standard	Jabulani
scope	68.5-69.5 cm	69.0 ± 0.2 cm
diameter	22 cm; Deviation ≤ 1.5%	22 cm; Deviation ≤ 1.0%
Weight	420-445 g	440 ± 0.2 g
Water absorption	≤ 10% weight gain	≈ 0% weight gain
deformation	≤ 10 cm	≤ 6 cm
Pressure loss	≤ 20%	≤ 10%

In 2008 the practical test took place at FC Bayern Munich , AC Milan , Ajax Cape Town (a subsidiary of Ajax Amsterdam ) and the Orlando Pirates from Johannesburg . The English international Carragher criticized the fact that the ball had been used in the German Bundesliga for some time and that they had the disadvantage of less playing practice with the ball.

The eleven ball colors symbolize the eleven actors on the one hand, but also the eleven official languages of South Africa .

criticism

As with the + team spirit in 2006, the Jabulani received a lot of criticism - mainly from goalkeepers.

Júlio César , Giampaolo Pazzini , Claudio Bravo and Iker Casillas, among others, criticized the ball. The Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon expressed his disappointment that such a ball would be used in a World Cup.

However, Jabulani also received positive criticism, including from Adnan Modalal , who said that the ball is very recognizable due to its colors and has a lot of spin.

While older balls to h already at about 48 km / flutter start, the ball flutters to 80 km / h at speeds of 72nd

commitment

After the first use as a game ball at the World Cup in South Africa, the ball came u. a. also used in the 2010 U-20 Women's World Cup and in the 2011 MLS season .