There's a zing in the air at the World Cup in Germany.
It's the sound of balls zipping past floundering 'keepers and has given the tournament an exciting attacking edge in the opening matches.
Four of the last six World Cups began with 1-0 scorelines, but this one kicked off with a record number of successful strikes in Germany's 4-2 demolition of Costa Rica.
PHOTO: AFP
And there have been goals galore since, including Australia's 3-1 last-gasp victory against Japan and Czech Republic's 3-0 drubbing of the US. There's been just one scoreless draw at press time, Sweden's disappointing start against Trinidad and Tobago.
The reason for this happy state of affairs could be technical and it has a name: +Teamgeist.
This is what Adidas calls the ball it's developed for this year's World Cup, which is said to be three times more accurate than its predecessors.
Since 1970 a 32-panel ball has always been used, but this time there are just 14 panels and no stitching. Instead the polymer-coated sphere is heated and glued together.
For strikers this is really good news, because: "It goes where you want it to go, and that's important," according to Adidas and England's David Beckham.
For goalies it means the ball will behave more like a baseball (which has just two panels and one seam) and there will be extra movement, making it harder to catch and keep out.
So, expect more scoring records to be set and keep an eye on Ronaldo, who has a golden chance to break Gerd Muller's tally of 14 World Cup goals.
"With 12 finishes already the Brazilian needs one more to best Pele.
Three more should be manageable when you have suppliers like
Ronaldhino and Kaka on your side."
Talking of Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (his brother could not pronounce "Ricardo," hence Kaka) the AC Milan midfielder is the new poster boy for Taiwanese women.
According to female journalists at the Ministry of Finance, the 24-year-old is "hotter than Beckham" and he was listed by a local Chinese-language paper as one of the top 10 sexiest players.
Interest from your significant other last night for the Brazilian game may have owed more to the slim build and baby face of Kaka than you may have realized.
CASH LURE
They say it's just a game but soccer is also serious business.
As for incentives to do well at the World Cup, cash usually works. The Washington Post reports that US players will split US$150,000 for each point they earn in the first round and US$3 million for making it to the final.
Even so, the lure of the dollar did not help against the Czechs and the embarrassing US performance has brought them back down to earth after building high hopes in 2002.
Following the money, a recent Journal of Finance report shows that defeat at the World Cup translates into real losses on the stock market.
The paper, by a panel of respected professors and presented last week at Yale University, suggests that after losing a soccer match the country's stocks deliver "abnormally negative returns."
True to form, the US' Dow Jones industrial average declined 1 percent on Monday and the NASDAQ dropped 2 percent. Japan's Nikkei index was also falling yesterday.
Interestingly, victories do not have an impact on the stock index. The thinking goes that a loss affects investor confidence in their countries but a victory does not improve optimism.
The paper also found an increase in homicides if the home team does badly. There were also 25 percent more heart attacks in Britain after England was beaten by Argentina in a 1998 penalty shootout against Argentina.
Though Ghanaians will lose heart after losing 2-0 their pulsating match against the "Azzurri," Italy could suffer more later as several of its players are implicated in a domestic match-fixing scandal.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said punishment for the scandal must be meted out after the Cup finishes.
Italy, it should be remembered, complained bitterly of cheating and claimed pitch officials were bribed when it was beaten 2-1 by South Korea in the 2002 quarter-finals.
Blatter himself was accused of corruption in a BBC report on Sunday that claimed the FIFA chief was being investigated by Swiss police for secretly trying to repay about US$1.84 million in bribes.
The pot continues to insist the kettle is black and, as usual, Blatter "took exception" to the report and claimed the allegations were libelous.
ROMMEL'S END
Finally, let's hope we've heard the last about Rommel's supposed invincibility. He didn't hold the Allies and he failed to beat back the Aussies.
The oddly named dog who is Japan's mascot (the "Blue Samurais" had never previously lost in 18 matches when the hound had attended training) is now expected to retire from the game. Woof.
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