The Adidas Uniforia football used at this year’s Euro 2020 tournament is flying. It’s being struck from all over the pitch and hurtling toward keepers, many of whom look dumbfounded in their reactions.
Shots are going in with this ball, which it should be noted has a seamless surface. I’m no scientist but I know that rough surfaces on sports balls make them travel through the air more easily – they speed up, essentially. More recent designs, however, are closer to perfect spheres and seem to eliminate roughness. One might assume that a hard hit Uniforia then, is harder to track in flight. If you’ve seen some of the goals from this tournament, such as the wickedly bending offering from Italy’s Lorenzo Insigne, you might agree.
Perhaps it’s just my imagination. Perhaps it’s just that strikers are launching better shots from closer range now, as per a recent article in Four Four Two. Whatever the reason, goals are up in the modern era of tournaments, compared to say, a generation ago.
But that’s just how a ball can impact on the field. Off it, a product like the Uniforia is also designed for broader cultural impact. According to Adidas, the colourful angular design printed into the ball is said to represent ‘diversity’ and ‘unity’. To this end, each of Euro 2020’s host cities – London, Glasgow, Dublin, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Munich, Budapest, Rome, Bucharest and Baku – are also printed on the ball. That’s a nice touch.
Also of interest is that the outer shell is made of a impranil, a recyclable and sustainable waterbone polyurethane (65% recyclable at least). The adhesive that holds the ball’s panels together is also said to be more sustainable: though the only confirmation I found of this was in a Unisport review of the ball.
Overall, I like that this ball was designed with a story in mind – one that’s about everyone simply enjoying football, playing it with friends from other places across borders, sharing in a global experience. That’s a comforting idea in stranger times.
The Soccer Pitch Is Green 