The World Cup balls are soccer cult objects that become part of the life and collective imagination of entire generations of soccer fans. traditionally too They have ignited the debate about who they harm or benefit more, the players or the goalkeepers, especially in recent championships. The Fevernova of Korea and Japan 2002 unleashed criticism from the goalkeepers for his lightness and the strange things he did in the trajectories of long shots and more of the same happened with the Jabulani from South Africa 2010possibly the ball that has caused the most controversy.
The Tango Spainour protagonist in today’s section, was no exception in the Spain World Cup 1982, as it was part of our lives for decades and caused some complaints because some footballers consider it light. ‘Son’ of the iconic Tango who made his fortune in world former, that of Argentinian 78the leather of our world Cup it was the room of Adidasthat since Mexico 70 until Qatar 2022 has been the official ball supplier of the FIFA.
Starting in 1970, the highest body in world football put an end to the tradition of the host countries being in charge of deciding and supplying the regulation balls. The ’78 Tango was 100% leather and retained the design of its predecessor, the Telstra of Germany 74, with its mythical 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons whose design with triple black structures, inspired by a man’s suit, created the effect of 12 identical circles.
That design remained in the World Cups until France 98 and was the football livelihood of millions of children for decades. The one from World Cup 82 was baptized as ‘Tango Spain’ and he presented only a single but decisive novelty with respect to his Argentine father. For the first time, the balls incorporated waterproof synthetic material to reduce water absorption and, consequently, the weight of the ball in wet or rainy conditions. That did not prevent the ball from having to be replaced in several games due to problems with the pressure of the ball.
Other features of the Tango Spaina is that it had yellow and orange colored versions for snow conditions and others for artificial lighting (Alicante Tango), for futsal (Indoor Tango) and for hard floors (Tango Malaga).
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