Another Italy Puma 2010 World Cup Kit Leak – This looks like the real thing.

Back in September leaks of the Italy 2010 FIFA World Cup Puma kits first appeared on the internet. Now Italian football shirt retailer calcioitalia.com has published a picture of what it purports to be the Italy Puma World Cup 2010 home kit (0r 1a Italia Maglia Calcio Mondiali 2010 if you prefer).

This is a clear image of the supposed new Italy Puma jersey. The website in question already has it on pre-order for delivery in February 2010.

Check out our Kits and Jerseys section for more new kits.

The First Online FIFA World Cup 2010 Simulator

With Friday’s FIFA World Cup 2010 Draw completed and the tournament’s groups set, the pundits of soccer have started their analyses and predictions. So have scores of soccer fans around the world who promptly entered the search phrase “World Cup 2010 Simulator” into their search engines to little avail.

While there aren’t too many simulators for World Cup 2010 around yet, we’ve found a beauty at mediotiempo.com that let’s you simulate the entire tournament from the group phase to the final. To launch the simulator just click on  Simulacion de la Fase Final (Final Stage Simulator in English) at the bottom of the page to launch the application. After that it’s easy to use regardless of what language you speak. Check it out at the link below.

FIFA World Cup 2010 Simulator at mediatiempo.com

FIFA World Cup 2010 Draw – First Round Groups and Schedule Set. England to play USA.

The draw for the First Round of FIFA World Cup 2010 is complete. Probably the biggest winner of the draw was controversial qualifier France who were unseeded but drawn with hosts South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay in Group A.

England and USA were drawn together in Group C along with Algeria and Slovenia.

Arguably, there are two groups that can be considered the Group of Death for the tournament – Group G featuring Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal or Group D containing Germany, Australia, Serbia Ghana.

Below are the FIFA World Cup 2010 First Round groups and schedule.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

June 2010

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7	8	9	10	11 [1] RSA – MEX [2] URU – FRA	12 [3] ARG – NGA [4] KOR – GRE [5] ENG – USA	13 [6] ALG – SVN [7] GER – AUS [8] SRB – GHA
14 [9] NED – DEN [10] JPN – CMR [11] ITA – PAR	15 [12] NZL – SVK [13] CIV – POR [14] BRA – PRK	16 [15] HON – CHI [16] ESP – SUI [17] RSA – URU	17 [18] FRA – MEX [19] GRE – NGA [20] ARG – KOR	18 [21] GER – SRB [22] SVN – USA [23] ENG – ALG	19 [24] GHA – AUS [25] NED – JPN [26] CMR – DEN	20 [27] SVK – PAR [28] ITA – NZL [29] BRA – CIV
21 [30] POR – PRK [31] CHI – SUI [32] ESP – HON	22 [34] FRA – RSA [33] MEX – URU [36] GRE – ARG [35] NGA – KOR	23 [37] SVN – ENG [38] USA – ALG [40] AUS – SRB [39] GHA – GER	24 [42] PAR – NZL [41] SVK – ITA [44] CMR – NED [43] DEN – JPN	25 [45] POR – BRA [46] PRK – CIV [48] SUI – HON [47] CHI – ESP

Video: adidas Introduces “JABULANI” – the Official Match Ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Cape Town / Herzogenaurach (December 4, 2009) – adidas and FIFA present the adidas “JABULANI,” the Official Match Ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. The “JABULANI,” which means “to celebrate” in isiZulu, features a South African inspired design and radically new technology.  The new match ball will be available in stores starting December 4.

The newly developed “Grip’n’Groove” ball technology provides an exceptionally stable flight and perfect grip under all conditions. With only eight, thermally bonded 3-D panels, which are spherically molded for the first time, the ball is perfectly round and more accurate than ever before.

The Name:

The name ”JABULANI” originates from the Bantu language isiZulu, one of the eleven official languages of the Republic of South Africa, and spoken by almost 25% of the population. Translated literally, “JABULANI” means “to celebrate.”  The name of the new match ball appropriately pays tribute to the passionate football celebration international fans will enjoy in South Africa next summer.

The Design:

Eleven different colors are used in the adidas “JABULANI,” the eleventh adidas World Cup ball. These 11 colors represent the 11 players in every team, the 11 official languages of South Africa and the 11 South African tribes that make the country one of the most ethnologically diverse countries on the African continent. The colorful design brings together the tremendous diversity of the country in harmonious unity. Four triangle-shaped design elements on a white background lend the ball a unique appearance in African spirit. Like the outer facade of Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, individual design elements capture the colorfulness of South Africa.

3-D Panel Shapes:

The Match Ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup features a completely new, ground-breaking technology.  Eight 3-D spherically formed EVA and TPU panels are molded together, harmoniously enveloping the inner carcass. The result is an energetic unit combined with perfect roundness. Following the first tests, players all over the world are enthusiastic about the new ball:

Michael Ballack: “Fantastic, the ball does exactly what I want it to.”

Petr Cech: “You can feel the energy coming towards you, like a shot.”

Frank Lampard: “A very strong ball, true to hit.”

Kaká: “For me, contact with the ball is all-important, and that’s just great with this ball.”

Grip’n’Groove Profile

Aero grooves:

Aero grooves create the clearly visible profile on the ball’s surface. The Grip’n’Groove profile circles the entire ball in an optimal aerodynamic way. The integrated grooves provide unmatched flight characteristics, making this the most stable and most accurate adidas ball ever. The ground-breaking performance of the adidas “JABULANI” has been confirmed in comprehensive comparison tests at Loughborough University in England and countless checks in the wind tunnel and the adidas football laboratory in Scheinfeld, Germany.

Grip:

The new match ball’s surface has been given a facelift since the introduction of the “goose bumps” for the last European Championship ball.  The “JABULANI” has a futuristic texture with a more extensive grip, giving players full control of the ball under all weather conditions.

adidas involves world-class athletes in the development and testing of its products. For the adidas “JABULANI,” adidas partnered with AC Milan, FC Bayern München, the Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town.

In the future, adidas will continue to use innovative technology to extend its world-leading position in football production and thus strengthen its position as the authentic symbol of high-performance sporting goods for professionals and amateurs alike. adidas also intends to unveil more revolutionary innovations in match ball production for future UEFA, FIFA and CAF competitions. The adidas innovation team (aIT) is already working on innovations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

Live Stream of the adidas Official FIFA 2010 World Cup Match Ball Unveiling

Here is a link to the live stream of adidas Official FIFA 2010 World Cup Match Ball Unveiling press conference to be held on Friday morning.

Who are expected to be in attendance: FIFA President Joseph Blatter, David Beckham (pending the date of his grandfather’s funeral) and Franz Beckenbauer
Date: Friday Dec. 4, 2009
Time: 9:45 AM ET

We’ll have all of the details on the FIFA 2010 Wold Cup Match ball on this site at 9:00 AM ET on Friday morning. Stay tuned!