Although all of the players are integral pieces of the puzzle towards the quest for the coveted FIFA World Cup Trophy, none of these games could be played without the most important piece, the actual soccer ball.

To begin, a standard soccer ball is a sphere that is made of 32 smooth panels, 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons. However, this conventional soccer ball design is a thing of the past.

Over the years, Adidas has designed the soccer balls that are used in the World Cup. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Adidas designed the Jabulani ball, which was intended to be aerodynamic in comparison to other soccer balls. However, the players in the tournament begged to differ, saying that the ball was actually “terrible” and that it changed directions mid-flight.

So, for this year’s World Cup, Adidas tweaked their soccer ball invention and created the Brazuca, the official ball of the 2014 World Cup. This soccer ball consists of six textured panels that are shaped like stylized Xs.

In order to perfect this invention, Sungchan Hong and Takeshi Asai, a pair of researchers from the Institute of Health and Sports Science at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, analyzed the aerodynamic properties of the Brazuca ball. Through their research, they put five soccer balls through a series of tests in order to observe their performance.

Their analysis compared the results of wind tunnel tests with actual trajectories through the air. The wind tunnel test results revealed that the Brazuca was the front-runner when it came to the stability of the drag forces, otherwise known as air resistance acting on the ball.

Another set of tests were conducted and each soccer ball was struck 40 times (20 times in each of two orientations) by an “impact-type kick robot” that carried the ball to a goal net 25 meters away. In this test, the Brazuca and a conventional ball were most likely to wind up in the same part of the net after each kick.

Through this battery of tests, the Brazuca soccer ball came out on top.

As previously mentioned, the invention design of the Brazuca includes six panels which distribute the seams differently, creating a smooth flight path. However, the key innovation on this soccer ball is the intentional roughing of the ball’s surface.  On the surface, the Brazuca is covered with small polyurethane nubs that imitate the effect that stitches create on a traditional 32-panel ball. These nubs are used to even out turbulence and cut down on what some experts refer to as knuckleballing.

Through all of these design innovations and with the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicking off today, we are anxious to see if the Brazuca soccer ball will score with the players!

Copyright Davison 2014

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-this-years-world-cup-soccer-ball-may-fly-more-predictably-than-the-2010-dud/2014/06/09/37468bee-ea6f-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-world-cup-soccer-ball-brazuca-20140603-story.html

Media:

http://c.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/inline-large/inline/2013/12/3022879-inline-s-6-2013-fifa-world-cup-brasil-ball.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup#mediaviewer/File:WC-2014-Brasil.svg

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Moats

Lusail Iconic Stadium is a proposed football stadium that will be built in Lusail, Qatar, in time for the opening and final games of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Like the other stadiums planned for the 2022 World Cup, the Lusail Stadium will be cooled using solar power and have a zero carbon footprint. The stadium was designed by the British firm, Foster + Partners. It will have an almost circular base, surrounded by a moat and connected to the car park by six bridges.

Rectangles

The Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil, is the future home ground of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. When this arena is completed, it will be the fifth-largest stadium on the top tier of the Brazilian League and the eleventh-largest in Brazil, with a seating capacity of 48,000. The stadium will host six 2014 FIFA World Cup matches, including the opening match. Due to the request of at least 65,000 seats for the World Cup opening match, temporary seats will be added to the stadium for the tournament.

Morphing

Incheon Asiad Main Stadium is a planned multi-use stadium in Incheon, South Korea. Once completed in 2014, it will be used mostly for athletic meets and will be the main host of the 2014 Asian Games. The stadium has been designed with an initial capacity of 60,000 spectators. After the 2014 Asian Games, capacity will be reduced to 30,000 spectators.

Sustainability

The New Levi’s stadium in Santa Clara, California, incorporates photovoltaic panels, a green roof, excellent public transit access, convenient bicycle parking, walking path access from the San Tomas Creek Trail, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, sophisticated building control systems, recycled materials and a long list of other sustainable design concepts.

Luxury

Grand Stade de Casablanca is a proposed title of the planned football stadium to be built in Casablanca, Morocco. Once completed in 2014, it will be used mostly for football matches and will serve as the home of Raja Casablanca, Wydad Casablanca and Moroccan National Football Team. The stadium was designed with a capacity of 80,000 spectators, making it one of the highest capacity stadiums in Africa. Once completed, it will replace Stade Mohamed V.

Copyright Davison 2013

Images:

http://cityscapes.ma/vb/showthread.php/8267-Grand-Stade-de-Casablanca

http://www.ninersnation.com/2013/5/8/4312282/49ers-stadium-naming-rights-levis

http://www.saopaulo-sp.net/arena-corinthians.htm

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1230235&page=2

https://www.tuvie.com/incheon-main-stadium-for-2014-asian-games/

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_Corinthians

http://newsantaclarastadium.com/about#/features

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