Adidas AG calls the soccer ball it designed for the World Cup the Jabulani-meaning 'to rejoice' in Zulu-but the chorus of whining from players and coaches about the ball's wobbly behavior is taking the gloss off the sports-equipment maker's marketing campaign.

Adidas has made the redesign of the tournament soccer ball every four years a central part of its product strategy, selling 13 million Jabulani-themed balls so far. The company claims its engineering has transformed soccer-ball technology and improves the standard of play.

Many players and coaches at the World Cup beg to differ. Both winning and losing teams have complained that the ball moves in mysterious ways. Adidas says complaints about its World Cup balls come and fade like clockwork every four years. 'It's a little bit of a joke,' said Antonio Zea, director of soccer for Adidas America.

The Jabulani is the 11th World Cup match ball produced by Adidas and previous balls were also unpopular with players. The ball for the 2006 World Cup staged in Germany was 'the worst-designed ball I have ever encountered,' said England's goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Spanish players compared the 2002 World Cup ball to a beach ball.

But in an unprecedented move, soccer's ruling body FIFA has vowed it will look into the issues after the tournament.

Goalies particularly hate the Jabulani. 'Terrible,' said the U.S.'s reserve keeper Marcus Hahnemann. Gianluigi Buffon of Italy called it unpredictable, while Brazil's Júlio César compared it to a ball you could buy at a 'grocery store.' David James of England said it's 'dreadful.'

While those losing players' complaints could be put down to sour grapes, even Iker Casillas-whose Spanish team has progressed to Sunday's final game-said the ball is 'appalling.'

Many pundits agree that the ball wobbles weirdly in the air on long-range shots, causing goalies to miss what should have been easy saves, including in U.S. versus England, Slovenia versus Algeria, and Ghana versus Uruguay.

The moaning hasn't affected sales of Jabulani-themed soccer balls, which range in price from $150 for the real thing to $12 for a mini replica ball. Adidas' ball sales in the U.S. have doubled since 2006.

The ball 'is huge for us,' Mr. Zea said by telephone from South Africa Thursday. 'It's the icon for the tournament.'

Adidas claims this year's ball is the most perfect sphere in soccer history, has tiny grooves to improve flightaccuracy, and makes more optimal contact with players' boots thanks to having fewer seams.

However, FIFA Secretary General Jérome Valcke acknowledged players' unhappiness in a recent press conference, saying 'FIFA is not unreceptive to what's being said about the ball.' The Jabulani is 'very different' from previous soccer balls, Mr. Valcke said.

FIFA plans to talk to coaches, players and technical specialists after the tournament about the ball, but the governing body hasn't said what action it might take for future tournaments, if any.

Adidas' Mr. Zea said complaints are dwindling as players get more familiar with the Jabulani during the tournament. Mr. Zea noted that Dutch defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst's 35-yard drive during the Holland versus Uruguay semifinal on Tuesday went into the net like a 'laser beam...going exactly where he wanted the ball to go.'

Adidas says it tested the ball extensively using robots, wind tunnels and other technology. It detected no problems with accuracy, Mr. Zea said.

But U.S. goalie Mr. Hahnemann said during a press conference in South Africa that technology isn't everything. 'Scientists came up with the atom bomb, doesn't mean we should have invented it,' he said.

Laura Stevens

• chorus [´kɔ:rəs] n.合唱；齐声 v.合唱 (初中英语单词)
• differ [´difə] vi.不同；有差别 (初中英语单词)
• mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• previous [´pri:viəs] a.先，前，以前的 (初中英语单词)
• keeper [´ki:pə] n.管理人；看守；保管人 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• holland [´hɔlənd] n.荷兰 (初中英语单词)
• behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)
• tournament [´tuənəmənt] n.比赛，锦标赛 (高中英语单词)
• engineering [,endʒi´niəriŋ] n.工程技术；工程学 (高中英语单词)
• sphere [sfiə] n.圆体；天体；范围 (高中英语单词)
• accuracy [´ækjurəsi] n.准确(性)；精密度 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• technical [´teknikəl] a.技术的；专门性的 (高中英语单词)
• winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)
• defender [di´fendə] n.保卫者；辩护者 (英语四级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• strategy [´strætidʒi] n.兵法；战略 (英语六级单词)
• unpopular [ʌn´pɔpjulə] a.不受欢迎的 (英语六级单词)
• unprecedented [ʌn´presidentid] a.空前的 (英语六级单词)
• affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)
• extensively [iks´tensivli] ad.广泛地，彻底地 (英语六级单词)