BERLIN: It seems everybody has been bending it like Beckham at the World Cup. One of the inventors of the new adidas World Cup ball — which is known as Teamgeist — Hans-Peter Nurnberg dismissed cla-ims that it is designed to give keepers a hard time.

In an interview with The Himalayan Times, Nurnberg said the goalkeepers problems with the ball are imaginary. “In our high-tech football laboratory, Teamgeist proved better in trajectory and precision than other footballs used in top-level competition,” said Nürnberg.

“This ball is designed to give players unrivalled accuracy. Of course, it has a spectacular action and we would like strikers to take more risks and go for goal from every possible angle,” said Nurnberg. “But there is nothing in it to make anticipation difficult for goalkeepers.”

At Germany 2006, strikers are having a ball with Teamgeist, while goalkeepers are dreading its swerve. England goalkeeper Paul Robinson and his US counterpart Kasey Keller had voiced doubts about the flight of the ball. Keller claimed the football establishment was waging a war against him and his fellow stoppers. “Something is obviously going on with the ball being used at the finals,” said Keller, who conceded three goals against the Czech Republic in the Americans’ opening match.

Nurnberg, on the other hand, cites the glowing endorsement of the ball by Bayern Munich and Germany reserve goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. “Kahn was a key member of our testing group and he appreciated the way the ball moved,” said Nurnberg.

“Interestingly, top European clubs have played with the all since its launch last December. It was also used in Bundesliga matches and the Champions League final, so I don’t see any point of controversy,” said Nurnberg, adding that the ball was made available six months ago to all national teams who qualified for the World Cup.

The first goal scored at 2006 World Cup, by the hosts’ fullback Phillip Lahm, and the last one on that night by his teammate Torsten Frings were viewed by critics as proof that the new ball had unpredictable aerodynamics. German custodian Jens Lehmann had said even before the World Cup that it was a ball for the outfield players and the crowd — not for the goalkeepers.

Even in 2002 World Cup, many players had voiced criticism against the Adidas ball which was known as Fevernova, claiming that it was too light and the flight path unpredictable.

Interestingly, “Team-geist” was conceived in Germany, its valve and rubber pump come from India, the inner cotton sheath from Vietnam, the artificial leather is made in South Korea, and the rubber sticker is produced in Thailand.

The ball, which will be assembled in Thailand by a Japanese company, will be marketed and distributed all over the world. The new ball costs about 110 euro in German sports shops.