World Cup: Physics bamboozles goalies

In a mysterious development, a new futbol debuted in the World Cup’s opening game.

The ball was likely to perplex goalkeepers at some stage of the tournament, a scientist warned.

The adidas ‘Teamgeist’ football has just 14 panels, with fewer seams, making its surface ‘smoother’ than conventional footballs, which have a 26 or 32 panel hexagon-based pattern.

This makes it aerodynamically closer to a baseball and, when hit with a slow spin, will make the ball less stable, giving it a more unpredictable trajectory in flight.

“With a very low spin rate, which occasionally happens in football, the panel pattern can have a big influence on the trajectory of the ball and make it more unpredictable for a goalkeeper,” said Dr. Ken Bray, a sports scientist at the University of Bath and author of How to score – science and the beautiful game. 

“In baseball, pitchers often throw a curve ball, which is similar to a swerving free kick, and the rotating seam disrupts the air flow around the ball in much the same way as a football does.

“Occasionally though, pitchers will throw a ‘knuckleball,’ which bobs about randomly in flight and is very disconcerting for batters,” Bray said.

“It happens because pitchers throw the ball with very little spin, and as the ball rotates lazily in the air, the seam disrupts the air flow around the ball at certain points on the surface, causing an unpredictable deflection.”

England goalkeeper Paul Robinson and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann criticized the ball for its lightweight and unpredictable behavior.