Nigeria Content Online

When the new Adidas
World Cup ball was unveiled at the World Cup draws on December 4 2009
in South Africa, there was a lot of excitement about the technological
innovations that had gone into its production and how it promises to be
a good grip for goalkeepers.

“According to the
rigorous FIFA specification range for footballs, we have created a ball
that is small and heavy allowing for maximum accuracy, perfect grip and
exceptionally stable flight,” Thomas Van Schaik, the Adidas Head of
Global Public Relations, had said with pride after the ball was
unveiled.

But Jabulani, the
ball’s name which means “to celebrate” or “be happy” in Zulu Language,
is leaving World Cup-bound goalies lamenting in frustration following
their nightmarish experience with the round object as preparations for
the 32 countries hit final stages with the kick off in Johannesburg
barely five days to go.

Spain captain and
number one goalkeeper, Ike Casillas disagreed with adidas’ claims as he
described the South Africa 2010 official ball as rather suited for a
beach football good enough probably on the Copacabana sand in Rio de
Janeiro.

“It’s sad that a
competition as important as a World Cup has an element as vital as the
ball with such abysmal characteristics”, Casillas said after his side
defeated Saudi Arabia 3-2 in pre- World Cup friendly last week.

Italy’s Gianluigi
Buffon has also expressed disappointment over the make-up of the World
Cup ball just as Brazil’s Julio Cesar, who gave a more disparaging
assessment after claiming Jabulani is more of an item from the “grocery
store”.

“The new model is
absolutely inadequate and I believe it is shameful to play such an
important competition, where so many champions are taking part, with a
ball like that,” said Buffon, who won the 2006 World Cup with his
country, on his personal website.

England young
goalkeeper Joe Hart also revealed he has had problems handling Jabulani
as he voiced his concern over the speed at which the ball moves in the
air.

“They’re doing
anything but staying in my gloves,” Hart told the media during the
week. “It’s hard work with them, but good fun. It makes the game
exciting and I think that’s what they are trying to do with it.”

It is not
surprising that the barrage of criticisms against the ball is coming
now taking into consideration the fact that this is perhaps the longest
possible spell the players have to train with the ball since the end of
the club football season across the world.

Nigeria’s keepers may cope

Super Eagles
goalies led by Vincent Enyeama will also have something to worry about
with Jabulani but may manage. The Hapoel Tel Aviv keeper and his
counterpart Austin Ejide have already given a promising impression on
how they hope to cope with the World Cup ball with their performance
against Colombia and Saudi Arabia respectively.

The powerful flight
of the ball was absolutely unstoppable for Enyeama for Colombia’s lead
in the 1-1 draw at Milton Keynes last weekend but he did well to stop
another ferocious effort and he also handled the opponent’s crosses
well throughout the game. His performance coupled with Ejide’s good
showing in the first friendly against the Saudis may have thrown up an
interesting fight for the top spot.

Argentina threat

An explosive
attacking contingent being paraded by our first group opponents,
Argentina, our goalkeepers will be facing the real Jabulani test on
June 12 at the 62,000-seater Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The
quintet of Lionel Messi, Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and
Gonzalo Higuain netted an astonishing total of 153 goals among them in
club football last season; add another 18 from Angel Di Maria and you
can expect these guys will like to wine and dine with Jabulani- the
goalkeepers’ nightmare.

June 12 is a
notable day in Nigeria’s history – the day we had our fairest election
till date – and it will be significant if Lars Lagerback and his squad
get a result against the South Americans on the day. The importance of
a result in the first game cannot be over-flogged and it is hoped that
Enyeama, who is expected to retain his number one spot will be good
enough to conquer the worrying Jabulani by keeping a clean sheet. But
the Eagles defence certainly has a huge role to play in the fight
against the new Adidas phenomenon.