What a Kick: Soccer's High-Tech Innovations

The latest look in World Cup soccer is g-o-o-o-o-o-o-l-d.

That's the color of the radical new ball, the Adidas + Teamgeist Berlin, designed for the championship match July 9 in the German capital.

The gold ball will match the trophy and add sparkle to the collectibles aftermarket. Gold is also a metaphor for the profits that Adidas, longtime official World Cup supplier, stands to make from worldwide sales of its state-of-the-art sphere. The German sporting-goods giant was banking that World Cup fever would sell 10 million logo-laden balls, from $15 miniatures to $130 match replicas; Adidas announced Wednesday that sales had passed the 15 million mark.

Adidas, which spent three years developing the ball, introduced it in black and white at the start of the World Cup, and Teamgeist ( geist is German for "spirit") sparked controversy from the first practice. German goalie Jens Lehmann was among the first to complain; the ball's surface is coated with polyurethane, making it "slippery" for goalkeepers. But English team captain (and paid Adidas spokesplayer) David Beckham has said he likes the ball, which offers a bigger sweet spot for kickers.

The ball also was quietly introduced into Major League Soccer at the beginning of the year. DC United goalkeeper Troy Perkins concurred with Lehmann that Teamgeist Berlin is "a nightmare, an absolute nightmare."

The most noticeable difference to viewers is the switch from the traditional 32-panel, black-and-white, hand-stitched geometric pattern in use on soccer balls since 1970. The new ball has curved panels, shaped like airplane propellers, that swirl into a vortex when the ball is in motion.

The biggest innovation is in the construction. Fourteen pieces are fused rather than sewn, making the orb infinitesimally rounder, lighter, faster, virtually waterproof and, Adidas says, 30 percent more accurate.

Jack Huckel, director of museum and archives at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y., recently kicked around a World Cup Teamgeist ball. The former soccer coach for Skidmore College judged the ball "very light and way easier to hit well."

On the other hand, he says: "If you strike it dead center, it doesn't spin; it floats. That makes it way more challenging for the goalkeeper to hold. You put your hands out to catch the ball, and it's not where you thought it would be."

Physicists have noted that the aerodynamics of drag are altered so that the ball can look as if it's speeding up when it's actually slowing down. Huckel believes that's why World Cup goalies have been fisting the ball instead of catching it.

Adidas is the world champion in soccer sales with 38 percent of the global market, according to NPD Sports Tracking. But it's not the only company to play with soccer ball technology. Puma, Germany's other major soccer brand, added golf-style dimples to the v1.06, which debuted in January. Like the Adidas Teamgeist, it has fewer panels (24), making it closer to being perfectly round. The dimples are supposed to create an air pocket of "positive turbulence" for a longer, more accurate flight path.

Archrival Nike has 31 percent of the soccer market and Brazilian soccer superstar Ronaldinho in its endorsement stable. The Beaverton, Ore., company is going toe-to-toe with Adidas on soccer boots and is counting on a bounce from the Total 90 Aerow II ball, which will debut this month with a grooved surface and patented "geo-balanced" interior. Nike's Web site calls it "a high- performance, high-velocity missile aiming straight for the ego of goalkeepers anywhere."