Paris: With every soccer World Cup, it seems, there is controversy about the ball the Jabulani used in South Africa was said to be so unpredictable as to border on the “supernatural”.
The Fevernova used in South Korea and Japan in 2002 was said to be too light and bouncy, while some complained that Teamgeist used in Germany four years later was slippery.
On Thursday, scientists in Japan said the Brazuca which Adidas developed as the official ball for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, should hit the mark.
It had a stable flight trajectory thanks to its shape and number of panels — a record-low six, they wrote in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.
Traditionally constructed from 32 panels, more recently the ball that is re-designed every four years for the sporting world’s greatest spectacle, had fewer Jabulani had eight panels and Teamgeist 14.
A pair of engineers at Japan’s University of Tsukuba compared the aerodynamics of the Brazuca, Jabulani, Teamgeist, the Cafusa used in the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup, and the conventional 32-panel ball in the laboratory.
They used wind tunnel tests and kicks with robot legs to measure drag, also called air resistance, and trajectory.
