You’re already familiar with the Adidas Jabulani, the ball that will be used during the FIFA World Cup this year. It’s the roundest ball ever created—impressive—and hopefully Messi will score many goals with it. Well, now say hello to the Jo’bulani, the ball that will be used during the final game of the tournament. It seems to be a palette swap of the Jabulani, with gold paint in place of the Jabulani’s green-black.
The ball was unveiled earlier today in Germany in a ceremony attended by the Adidas CEO, German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, and current South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Perreira.
The fact that I have a Franz Beckenbauer story to link to is insane.
The name? It, too, is essentially a mod, but of the original name, Jabulani. It’s a reference to Johanesburg, where the final match of the tournament will take place.
Bwin still has Spain as the favorites, followed by Brazil and Argentina.
Team USA is in 11th place, between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The funny thing is I can name more players on the Côte d’Ivoire team than on the USA team.