The German sporting goods company Adidas has been making specific soccer balls for each and every World Cup since 1970.
The new ball for the 2014 tournament in Brazil is called the Brazuca, and Adidas product manager Jochen Raff is its inventor.
“Three different elements inspired the design. The most obvious are the bands around the ball. They have got this typically Brazilian flowing shape and of course you have the colors and the star theme that plays a big role in Brazil,” Jochen Raff said in an interview with the Deutsche Welle.
He said the seams gave the ball an even stable flight - the more uniformly the seams are distributed the better the ball flies through the air.
"The long seams and the uniform construction are what count. Then it doesn't matter how the ball is oriented, it still has a predictable fly path."
Raff said the design had undergone extensive testing in the lab before it went to the World Cup.
Raff said the ball was the iconic piece of equipment in a tournament like this.
"We want to imbue it with the history of the host country as a kind of tribute. That way we can see that this was the ball that was used in Brazil," he added.
He informed that the Adidas team also came up with a special ball for the final match.
“At that point the enthusiasm reaches an absolute peak. We see bands of colors bursting out of the panel and all the little details. We wanted to express all that emotion—like a Samba dance or music, it all comes pouring out,” said Franzisla Loeffelman, the designer of the ball of the finale.
