Well geez Wolfgang, I did mention Joe's balls in my time post......

But speaking of balls........Any thoughts as the WC wraps up as to the influence the new ball had on the games themselves? Adidas made some powerful claims as to it's characteristics such as the fact it doesn't deform when struck and hence allows a better and more accurate flight path....blah,blah,blah................In early reports prior to the Cup games it was reported by several players that it felt flat and that they tended to shoot high. There were a lot of high shots in the matches but were there more than usual? Did the ball have a greater effect on say Euro teams than the Brazilian style teams or vice versa? Just wondering what other thoughts are or what you might have heard.

Spaw