Adidas unveils 2014 World Cup Battle Pack collection

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The 2014 FIFA World Cup is less than a month away, and adidas has debuted a new collection of Battle Pack cleats just in time for the tournament. Featuring a cleat from the brand’s five silos — including Lionel Messi’s signature adizero F50, as well as the latest Predator, Nitrocharge, 11Pro and adizero F50 — each model comes in its own disruptive black and white pattern.

Every adidas player will wear the Battle Pack cleats during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, including Messi (Argentina), Mesut Özil (Germany), Dani Alves (Brazil), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Karim Benzema (France), Frank Lampard (England), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Fernando Torres (Spain) and Jozy Altidore (USA).

“The black and white design is unlike anything I’ve seen on the field,” said US forward Altidore. “Wearing the same collection as every other adidas athlete at the World Cup makes me part of something bigger.”

The unique black and white design of the Battle Pack collection is inspired by the war paint of native warriors and features gold stripes representing the FIFA World Cup trophy. Alternatively, the Battle Pack version of Messi’s signature adizero F50 includes a blue and white pattern to celebrate the Argentina federation.

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The adidas Battle Pack collection debuts on the field for the first time during the UEFA Champions League Final in Lisbon on May 24. All five models are now available for pre-order exclusively at adidas.com and will hit stores beginning May 26.

For more information, join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using #WorldCup.

  

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Adidas reveals Brazuca match ball for World Cup 2014

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With World Cup 2014 only six months away, and the official draw taking place tomorrow to see which countries will face off against each other in the group stages, adidas has revealed the official match ball for the tournament, and it’s a beauty. The company sent us our own Brazuca (an informal local term that means “Brazilian”) to test out this week, and we have a good feeling that, unlike World Cup 2010’s much-criticized Jabulani ball, players are going to really love playing with this one.

The Brazuca is a breakthrough innovation featuring a revolutionary six-panel design and a unique surface that provides improved grip, touch sensibility and aerodynamics. It’s got just enough stickiness from the goose bump texture without being a hindrance to flair players, and it’s not nearly as unpredictable in the air as the Jabulani, which should be music to goalkeepers’ ears. The colors and ribbon design on the ball panels symbolize the traditional multicolored wish bracelets worn in Brazil, and also reflect the vibrancy and fun associated with soccer in the country.

Quite amazingly, the Brazuca has gone through two and half years of testing involving more than 600 of the world’s top players – including Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Zinedine Zidane – as well as 30 teams in 10 countries across three continents, making it the most tested ball ever by adidas. And that attention to detail really shows in the final product, hopefully resulting in a World Cup remembered more for the incredible moments than the Brazuca itself. After all, that’s the true test of a great match ball.

For more on the Brazuca, check out the video below to see the ball in action, head over to adidas.com to buy your own, and be sure to follow @adidassoccer and @brazuca for other news leading up to next year’s World Cup.