New Euro 2012 ball faster than Jabulani, Adidas CEO says

Reuters): A new Adidas ball, to be used at the Euro 2012 finals, will fly faster than its predecessor and will be just as unpredictable for goalkeepers, the chief executive of the German sporting goods company said on Monday.

“We will certainly make the ball (fly) faster and hopefully, we’ll see a lot of goals being scored at next year’s tournament in Poland and Ukraine,” Herbert Hainer told Reuters at a media briefing in Moscow.

The new Euro 2012 ball will undergo a “revolutionary development” compared to the famous Jabulani ball, which gave goalkeepers so much trouble at last year’s World Cup.

“As for Jabulani, we certainly underestimated high altitude, at which the tournament in South Africa was played,” Hainer said.

“As for the complaints from goalkeepers, as soon as the tournament started everyone was quiet because people were just enjoying watching the games. And in the Champions League we’ve seen no complaints at all.”

Hainer declined to unveil the name of the Euro 2012 ball, which will be officially presented at the draw ceremony for the finals in Kiev on Dec. 3, saying only that the ball will have a theme associated with both Poland and Ukraine.

Hainer then tried to play the role of famous German octopus Paul, who correctly predicted each of Germany’s 2010 World Cup matches, by giving his own predictions ahead of Euro 2012.

“Certainly, Spain and Germany should be considered the favourites and could very well meet in the final, although I wouldn’t mind having a Germany-Russia final,” he said.

“As for (co-hosts) Ukraine, I don’t see them reaching the final or even the semi-final.”