There is one thing you can be certain of at every World Cup; the players will complain about the effect of the new technology used in producing the latest type of footballs being used.
In an era now consigned to history, the ball was made of leather which got heavier when it was wet and was even held together by thick laces, something that is almost impossible to believe when inspecting the modern, light synthetic ball.
The loudest complaints are often heard from goalkeepers, that rather odd breed who suffer from the most erratic of behaviour. They are prone to throwing their toys around at anything they don't like and their understanding, sympathetic coaches are often seen wrapping a consoling arm around the poor dears' shoulders while whispering the words "there, there" in an attempt to calm down their last line of defence.
However, we mustn't disregard totally the thoughts and opinions of our goalkeepers. After all, they could win you the tournament with a stunning penalty save when the rest of the team has failed to break open the opposing defence. So why have such highly regarded keepers including Germany's Lehman, and Italy's Buffon labelled the official FIFA World Cup 2010 ball a "plastic beach ball"? FIFA proudly launched the Adidas Jabulani amongst great fanfare.
Apparently one of its major selling points was that it was easier to control. Well if a player can't control a football, what is he doing at the World Cup anyway? The South African word Jabulani comes from the Zulu word for 'celebrate', well that's nice but not many people have celebrated its arrival yet. Manufacturers Adidas claim it is rounder than any ball has ever been before (ah that explains why the square ball never really proved popular) and it is also lighter - and here is the problem which has been pounced on by all those poor, much maligned goalkeepers. You see, it is so light that its flight is unpredictable, maybe it should have been sponsored by British Airways this year then?
Talking of Britain, the England team have been using the ball in training for the first time, and the poor lads don't like the way it goes off target which of course has nothing to do with their inability to hit a barn door from two paces. Meanwhile those crafty Germans have been using a similar ball in their own league all season - oh no, why didn't other countries think of that? Well it's all to do with who your sponsorship deals are tied up with, the Germans are in bed with Adidas, and the English FA can only use Nike balls, so there.
Let's not be too hard on our keepers. No, the outfield players have also claimed a foul with the new ball as well. Brazil are, as usual, highly fancied to do well in this year's tournament, but their striker Luis Fabiano said that he thought the ball was "weird and suddenly changes trajectory". His Italian counterpart Giampaolo Pazzini advised that the ball was a "disaster". Really? He continues: "It moves so much and is difficult to control. You jump to head a cross and suddenly the ball moves and you miss it". Yes well sorry to say Giampaolo but that is football for you, keep your eyes on the ball next time!
French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris maybe lets us in on something though, and this may make this a very exciting world cup simply because of this new ball. He stated that "This ball is a catastrophe. With this kind of ball you can score from anywhere." Excellent news! This is what all football fans round the world want - players scoring from anywhere. We don't want goalkeepers getting in the way, in fact why not get rid of them then there will be more goals and less complaining!
Oh by the way, I used to be an amateur goalkeeper, the gloves we had were useless....
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