How round can round gets?

Quick Quiz - What is the shape of the ball used during the upcoming World Cup in Germany starting tomorrow? .... I can sense the hesitation .... You want to say round but you are afraid that this is a trick question. No, this is not a trick question. According to Adidas, the official ballmaker for the World Cup, when Germany kicks off against Costa Rica, the ball used will be 'rounder' than any of the previous balls used in previous World Cup Finals. Huh? Do you mean to say that previous balls were rugby shaped balls? How 'rounder' can round gets?

According to Adidas who had been supplying balls for the world cups for the last 36 years, this year's ball to be used during the world cup will be 'rounder' because the balls are not made from the usual 32 black and white pentagon panels but rather the panels are premolded into the right shape and they are not cut out of a flat piece and forced into a round shape as before. By reducing the number of places where panels touch each other, the ball reacts three times more accurately when kicked.

How do they test this so called accuracy? Apparently they had a robot that kicked the ball against the wall a few thousand times. When tested among footballers, the strikers like the ball a lot more than the goalkeepers who complained that the balls are too light. Sorry, no sympathy from me whatsoever there. I am looking forward to a lot of goals this world cup.

I guess if you put up a $100 million worth of marketing muscle, you can always describe it any way you want. Adidas expects to sell 15 million of the '+Teamgeist' ball this year alone. In addition, Adidas will also be the maker for David Beckham's hi-tech shoes, the German's football jerseys and the Argentine's football jerseys. Aididas likes to introduce new soccer things during world cups. In 1970, Adidas introduced the black and white pentagos and hexagon football. In 1986, Adidas introduced the then 'telstar' football. In 2002, they had the 'fevernova'. With the new '+Teamgeist' Adidas hopes to achieve its $1.5 billion worth of football related sales this year. So, what's a $100 million?