Adidas Finale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Adidas Finale ball is the current official football of the UEFA Champions League, and has been since the 2000/2001 season. The ball is therefore designed with emphasis on the stars of the UEFA Champions League logo. The ball is used mostly in the final stages, as other balls may be used in preliminary rounds. For example, a Puma ball was used in a 2006/07 third qualifying round second leg match between Maccabi Haifa and Liverpool.
The ball is made by Adidas, and was developed based on the Adidas Terrestra Silverstream, the official matchball of the UEFA European Football Championship in 2000. This ball was also made with the same type of materials and construction used for the Adidas Fevernova, except of course the graphics.[1]
The Adidas Finale ball incorporates a unique design, that was inspired by the UEFA Champions League starball logo. The Adidas Finale is softer, faster, and more accurate than any other Adidas football before, it also features a layer of highly compressed, gas-filled micro-ballons of equal size (syntactic foam), proven during EURO 2000 and probably contributing to one of the highest average goal rates in a major tournament.[1]
[edit] The ball
Until the final of the 2005/2006 season, the Finale used standard hexagonal and pentagonal panels. From then on the panels are the same as the Adidas Teamgeist ball. From 2004/2005 the ball was the same as the Adidas Roteiro balls, with thermally bonded panels. The only difference was the design of the pattern.
Each season in the Champions League, the colour of the stars on the ball is changed. The first two balls, in 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 were silver, followed by black in 2002/2003, then dark blue in 2003/2004, and red in 2004/2005. This was followed by light blue in 2005/2006. The design for next season's ball was used in this season's final. A light blue ball was used for most of the 05/06 season, but in the final between Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona, held in the Stade de France, Paris it was replaced by a ball with the same paneling as the Teamgeist but decorated with pink stars. For Season 2006-07, the ball had grey stars trimmed in red and white and the Finale Athens is a chrome silver metallic with royal blue and white. For the forthcoming UEFA Champions League season (2007-08), the ball will be decorated in tangerine orange and black stars with grey trim. For the Final of the 07/08 season in Moscow, the ball is gray and red stars with a gold trim.
Each matchball intended for use in the final is marked with the location at which the match is to be played. For example, the 2004-05 Champions League Final was held in Istanbul, Turkey and as such, the blue/silver-starred Finale balls were marked with Istanbul.
These official match balls are well prized. The UEFA Champions League is thought to be the most prestigious club competition and the ball itself has a very unusual design which makes the ball unique and fairly cherishable.
These balls are also occasionally used in the Champions League's sister competition - the UEFA Cup.
