40-492: The Adidas +Teamgeist ( German pronunciation: [ˈtiːmgaɪ̯st] , with the plus sign being mute) is a football made by Adidas and developed jointly with Molten Corporation . It was the official match ball for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany . The plus sign in its name was introduced for trademark purposes, since the regular German word Teamgeist , meaning "team spirit", could not be trademarked. The ball
80-407: A fireworks display signalled the beginning of the ceremony proper. The national flag of China was then raised, in accordance with usual protocol, and the national anthem of China performed. Performers wearing suits in bright colours paraded round the stadium, as a welcoming ceremony preceding the athletes' entry. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics , the ceremony included a parade of nations, with
120-479: A flag bearer for each national team. Contrary to Olympic tradition, the national team of Greece did not enter first, as the Paralympic Games traces its roots to Stoke Mandeville rather than Olympia ; the host country, as is customary in both Olympic and Paralympic Games, came last. As Chinese is written in characters and not letters, the order of the teams' entry was determined by the number of strokes in
160-401: A football is roughly 22 cm (8.66 inches) in diameter for a regulation size 5 ball. Rules state that a size 5 ball must be 68 to 70 cm (27 to 28 in) in circumference. Averaging that to 69 cm (27 in) and then dividing by π gives a diameter of about 22 cm (8.7 in). Regulation size and weight for a football is a circumference of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) and
200-429: A more modern appearance. In 1838, Charles Goodyear introduced vulcanized rubber , which dramatically improved football. Vulcanization is the treatment of rubber to give it certain qualities such as strength, elasticity, and resistance to solvents. Vulcanization of rubber also helps the football resist moderate heat and cold. Vulcanization helped create inflatable bladders that pressurize the outer panel arrangement of
240-713: A response to the problems with the balls in the 1962 FIFA World Cup , Adidas created the Adidas Santiago – this led to Adidas winning the contract to supply the match balls for all official FIFA and UEFA matches, which they have held since the 1970s, and also for the Olympic Games . They also supply the ball for the UEFA Champions League which is called the Adidas Finale . In early FIFA World Cups, match balls were mostly provided by
280-684: A rope by strength of arms to the top of Beijing National Stadium , where he lit the cauldron to mark the beginning of the Games. The 2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium . It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time ( UTC+8 ) on September 17, 2008. Twenty sports were on the program: Rowing made its first appearance in the Paralympics at these games. The following National Paralympic Committees sent delegations to compete. Macau and
320-546: A weight of 410–450 g (14–16 oz). The ball is inflated to a pressure of 0.6–1.1 bars (8.7–16.0 psi) at sea level. This is known as "Size 5". Smaller balls, Sizes 1, 3, and 4, are also produced for younger players or as training tools. Following consultations with football associations, clubs and ball manufacturers, FIFA has developed non-compulsory recommendations for appropriate sizes, circumferences and weights of balls for different age groups of youth football. There are different types of football balls depending on
360-500: Is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC Country Code. * Host nation (Host nation (China)) In France, following the Games, Philippe Juvin , national secretary of the governing Union for a Popular Movement , accused national public television network France Télévisions of having practiced "segregation" by providing live coverage of
400-731: The 2008 Summer Olympics , equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao . It was first time the new Paralympic logo featured in the Summer Paralympics since its rebranding after the 2004 Summer Paralympics . 3,951 athletes from 146 countries took part, the largest number of nations ever (ten more than the 2004 Games in Athens ). Five countries competed for the first time . As host country, China fielded more athletes than any other country. The slogan for
440-739: The Faroe Islands are members of the International Paralympic Committee , but not of the International Olympic Committee ; hence they participate in the Paralympic Games but not in the Olympics. Burundi , Gabon , Georgia , Haiti and Montenegro participated in the Paralympics for the first time. Botswana was due to take part, but its single athlete, defending Paralympic champion sprinter Tshotlego Morama , withdrew prior to
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#1732779472954480-705: The Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board . Additional, more stringent standards are specified by FIFA and other big governing bodies for the balls used in the competitions they sanction. Early footballs began as animal bladders or stomachs that would easily fall apart if kicked too much. Improvements became possible in the 19th century with the introduction of rubber and discoveries of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear . The modern 32-panel ball design
520-452: The "Journey of Space" and "Journey of Life". The sunbird performance entailed Yang Haitao (杨海涛), a singer with a visual impairment, singing about dreams while an acrobat in sunbird costume descended in simulated flight from the air and "awakened the blind singer from his sleep". The ceremony concludes with Hou Bin , the first Chinese paralympian to be three-time champion consecutively in the same event, lifted himself and his wheelchair up on
560-543: The "Route of Modern China"). Both routes returned to Beijing on September 5, and the torch was flamed at the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony on September 6. The opening ceremony took place on September 6, 2008. The pre-ceremony performance was a succession of various musical performances, ranging from military music to folk music and a performance of Ode to Joy . Following a countdown,
600-540: The +Teamgeist and Teamgeist 2 for various competitions. Variants of this ball include the Adidas Teamgeist 2 Magnus Moenia , used in the 2008 Olympic Games , as well as the related Adidas Europass used for UEFA Euro 2008 . Ball (association football) A football or soccer ball is the ball used in the sport of association football . The ball's spherical shape, as well as its size, weight, mass, and material composition, are specified by Law 2 of
640-570: The 2008 Paralympics was the same as the 2008 Summer Olympics , "One World, One Dream" ( simplified Chinese : 同一个世界 同一个梦想 ; traditional Chinese : 同一個世界 同一個夢想 Pinyin Tóng yīge shìjìe tóng yīge mèngxiǎng , lit. "One World, One Dream"). China dominated the medal count, finishing with 89 gold medals and 211 total medals, more than double the next-ranked NPC in both cases. 339 Paralympic records and 279 world records were broken. International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Philip Craven declared
680-419: The 32 panel Roteiro which preceded it, the +TeamGeist panels are bonded together, rather than stitched. It is claimed to be rounder and to perform more uniformly regardless of where it is hit, and being almost waterproof , it does not get heavier in wet weather. Each of the 32 qualified federations received 40 match balls for training purposes. Match balls for the 2006 FIFA World Cup were personalized with
720-670: The Games "the greatest Paralympic Games ever." Beijing was selected to host the 2022 Winter Paralympics , making it the first city to host both Summer and Winter Games. Nineteen competition venues were selected—seventeen in Beijing, one in Hong Kong, and one in Qingdao . The Games's emblem, "Sky, Earth, and Human Beings" ( Chinese : 天、地、人 ), was unveiled in July 2004, a multicolored Chinese character "之" ( Chinese : zhī ) stylized as an athletic figure in motion. Its red, blue and green colors represent sun, sky and earth. The slogan
760-510: The Games due to injury. The country's last-minute attempt to field other athletes in her place was rejected, as they did not meet the requirement of having participated in international events. This table is based on the medal count of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The ranking is sorted primarily by the number of gold medals earned by a National Paralympic Committee. The number of silver medals
800-502: The ball, this was abandoned after a trial at the 2005 Under-17 World Championship in Peru . The Teamgeist was the first World Cup ball since 1970 to not have the traditional 32-panel truncated icosahedron design. Instead, the ball is made up of 14 panels, which means that the number of three-panel touch points is reduced by 60% (60 to 24) and the total length of the panel lines falls by over 15% (400.5 cm to 339.3 cm). Building on
840-552: The ball. The microchip technology was considered for the goal-line technology . The ball used in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia had an embedded chip which did not provide any measurements, but provided 'user experience' via smartphone after connecting with the ball via NFC . Companies such as Umbro , Mitre , Adidas , Nike , Select and Puma are releasing footballs made out of new materials which are intended to provide more accurate flight and more power to be transferred to
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#1732779472954880-425: The first character of their respective countries' Simplified Chinese names. Countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character. This made Guinea (几内亚) the first country to enter as it takes two strokes to write the first character in the country's name (几). Following the athletes' parade, a performance took place, divided into chapters and sub-chapters entitled
920-427: The football to be pressurised. The ball's outside is made of leather, synthetic leather , polyurethane or PVC panels. The surface can be textured, weaved or embossed for greater control and touch. The panel pairs are either machine-stitched, hand-stitched or thermo-bonded (glued and bonded by heat) along the edge. To prevent water absorption balls may be specially coated, or the stitches bonded with glue. The size of
960-917: The football when it is kicked or when the ball hits a surface is tested. Two styles of footballs have been tested by the Sports Technology Research Group of Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in Loughborough University ; these two models are called the Basic FE model and the Developed FE model of the football. The basic model considered the ball as a spherical shell with isotropic material properties. The developed model also used isotropic material properties but included an additional stiffer stitching seam region. Manufacturers are experimenting with microchips and even cameras embedded inside
1000-416: The football. Modern footballs are more complex than past footballs. Most footballs consist of twelve regular pentagonal and twenty regular hexagonal panels positioned in a truncated icosahedron spherical geometry. Some premium-grade 32-panel balls use non-regular polygons to give a closer approximation to sphericality. The inside of the football is made up of a latex or butyl rubber bladder which enables
1040-476: The football. Charles Goodyear's innovation increased the bounce ability of the ball and made it easier to kick. Most balls of this time had tanned leather with eighteen sections stitched together. These were arranged in six panels of three strips each. During the 1900s, footballs were made out of leather with a lace of the same material (known as tiento in Spanish) used to stitch the panels. Although leather
1080-721: The hosts from local suppliers. Records indicate a variety of models being used within individual tournaments and even, on some occasions, individual games. Over time, FIFA took more control over the choice of ball used. Since 1970 Adidas have supplied official match balls (all of which were made in Sialkot , Pakistan ) for every tournament. The most up-to-date balls used in various club football competitions as of 2024–25 season are: Adidas Finale Munich (UCL) Adidas Finale Lisbon (UWCL) Nike Flight Malaysia Cup Malaysia FA Cup MFL Cup Piala Sumbangsih The association football symbol ( U+ 26BD ⚽ SOCCER BALL )
1120-580: The introduction of thermal bonding technology in 2004, the Teamgeist ball is the first time Adidas has used this in a World Cup. Loughborough University conducted extensive comparative testing on the ball, along with the Adidas football laboratory in Scheinfeld , Germany . While Swiss international Johann Vogel and David Beckham , both sponsored by Adidas, and others were reported to be happy with
1160-469: The match and turf including training footballs, match footballs, professional match footballs, beach footballs, street footballs, indoor footballs, turf balls, futsal footballs and mini/skills footballs. Many companies throughout the world produce footballs. The earliest balls were made by local suppliers where the game was played. It is estimated that 40% of all footballs are made in Sialkot , Pakistan with other major producers being China and India. As
1200-432: The material used to create them. Footballs have dramatically changed over time. During medieval times balls were normally made from an outer shell of leather filled with cork shavings. Another method of creating a ball was using animal bladders to make it inflatable inside. However, these two styles of footballs were easy to puncture and were inadequate for kicking. It was not until the 19th century that footballs developed
1240-483: The name of the stadium, the teams, the match date, and the kick-off time of each individual game, under a protective coating. A special match ball was used for the final game — the +Teamgeist Berlin. The design is the same as the other match balls, but accented in gold, with black and white details. Both qualified federations ( France and Italy ) received 20 of these versions for training purposes. Although it had been planned to include an electronic tracking system in
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1280-519: The new ball, it was criticized by many top players before the World Cup. Players such as Brazil 's Roberto Carlos and Paul Robinson of England were among the critics of the new ball, claiming it was too light and had a vastly different performance when wet. The ball has fewer seams, reducing air resistance and thus altering flight patterns. The "Wawa Aba" ball of the Africa Cup of Nations
1320-530: The year 1863, the first specifications for footballs were set by the Football Association . Previous to this, footballs were made out of inflated animal bladder, with later leather coverings to help footballs maintain their shapes and sizes. In 1872, the specifications were revised and have been kept essentially unchanged by the International Football Association Board . Differences in footballs made since this rule came into effect have been with
1360-467: Was criticised by the player of the tournament, Hosny Abd Rabo of Egypt , who said that ball was bad for passing. The Teamgeist 2 was introduced by Adidas as an update of the ball during the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. The ball was then formally introduced in 2008 and was also used in the seven-a-side football tournament at the 2008 Summer Paralympics . Adidas has produced multiple variants of
1400-627: Was designed by the Adidas Innovation Team and the Molten Corporation and is made by Adidas, which has provided the balls used in all World Cup matches since the 1970 World Cup when the Telstar was introduced. The +Teamgeist ball differs from previous balls in having just 14 curved panels (making the ball topologically equivalent to a truncated octahedron ), rather than the 32 that have been standard since 1970. Like
1440-598: Was developed in 1962 by Eigil Nielsen , and technological research continues to develop footballs with improved performance. The 32-panel ball design was soon joined by 24-panel balls as well as 42-panel balls, both of which improved on performance prior to 2007. A black-and-white patterned spherical truncated icosahedron design, brought to prominence by the Adidas Telstar , has become a symbol of association football . Many different designs of balls exist, varying both in appearance and physical characteristics. In
1480-582: Was introduced by computing standard Unicode . The symbol was representable in HTML as ⚽ or ⚽ . The addition of this symbol follows a 2008 proposal by Karl Pentzlin. 2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games ( Chinese : 2008年夏季残疾人奥林匹克运动会 ; pinyin : 2008 Nián Xiàjì Cánjí Rén Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì ), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games , took place in Beijing , China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with
1520-405: Was perfect for bouncing and kicking the ball, when heading the football (hitting it with the player's head) it was usually painful. This problem was most probably due to water absorption of the leather from rain, which caused a considerable increase in weight, causing head or neck injury. By around 2017, this had also been associated with dementia in former players. Another problem of early footballs
1560-594: Was that they deteriorated quickly, as the plastic used in manufacturing varied in thickness and in quality. The ball without the leather lace was developed and patented by Romano Polo, Antonio Tossolini and Juan Valbonesi in 1931 in Bell Ville , Córdoba Province, Argentina . This innovative ball (named Superball ) was adopted by the Argentine Football Association as the official ball for its competitions since 1932. The deformation of
1600-645: Was the same as the 2008 Summer Olympics , "One World, One Dream". The mascot was a cartoon cow named Fu Niu Lele ( Chinese : 福牛乐乐 ), roughly meaning "Lucky Ox 'Happy'". The theme song was " Flying with the Dream " Chinese : 和梦一起飞 . It was performed by Chinese-Tibetan singer Han Hong and Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Lau . The torch relay of the 2008 Summer Paralympics started from Tian Tan (Temple of Heaven) on August 28. The flame then gathered before The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿) and followed two routes (the "Route of Ancient China" and
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