Adidas became renowned for advancing the Predator boot design developed by ex-Liverpool and Australian international player Craig Johnston. This design featured a ribbed rubber structure for the upper leather of the shoe, used to accent the movement of the ball when struck; highly skilled players claimed they were able to curve the flight of the ball more easily when wearing this new contoured design.The Predator also features the Craig Johnston-invented Traxion sole. FIFA, the world governing body of football, commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments to favour more attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup, the Teamgeist, were particular note worthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goal strikes that were intended to increase the number of goals scored.Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable with the design, claiming it would move significantly and unpredictably in flight. Adidas also introduced another new ball for the 2010 World Cup. The Jabulaniball was designed and developed by Loughborough University in conjunction with Chelsea FC. It received much criticism from players, managers and pundits for being too hard to control.The lighter and more aerodynamic ball led to many shots and passes being over hit. The Jabulani was widely blamed for the low numbers of long range goals or even remotely accurate attempts in the opening stage of the tournament. In Germany, Adidas owns 9.1% of Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Adidas sponsors the German national team and Bundesliga clubs Schalke, Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Nuremberg, and Wolfsburg. In addition, Adidas has numerous major kit deals with clubs worldwide. Amongst the most high profile are Real Madrid, Chelsea, Milan, Ajax, Benfica, Lyon, Marseille, Fenerbahçe, Basel, River Plate, Beşiktaş, Swansea City, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Aberdeen, Southampton, Palmeiras, and Flamengo. In addition to other national teams, such as the Spain national football team, Argentina national football team, Mexico national football teamand Japan national football team. Current footballers that Adidas officially endorses includes (but is not limited to): Lionel Messi, Shinji Kagawa, Nani, Mats Hummels, Daniele De Rossi, Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Juan Mata, Thomas Müller, Kaká, Xabi Alonso, David Villa, André Schürrle, Steven Gerrard, Javi Martínez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Toni Kroos, Alessandro Del Piero, Fernando Torres, Luis Suárez, Xavi, Atsuto Uchida, Hiroshi Kiyotake, Tomoaki Makino, and Karim Benzemaand also the coach José Mourinho
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 07:21:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015