Adidas World Cup Official Match Ball
With the draw for the world cup taking place on Friday, Adidas also release the official match ball for next summer’s competition and as you might expect it is influenced by the culture of the country the tournament takes place in, South Africa.
The name of the official match ball, the ‘Jabulani’ translates from the native zulu tongue to broadly, we are happy/to celebrate, which is what some of the teams will be doing by just making it to the World Cup Finals. Being the showcase ball for a company like Adidas, they say this ball is the “roundest” possible, strangely (aren’t all balls round?!). The eight panel design is said to hold it’s shape better and fly through the air more stable than recent footballs (which goalkeepers may like!).
The official ball you see above isn’t cheap, retailling at about £80, so wisely Adidas also sell a cheaper version of the ball which is more suitable for playing in the park with your friends. All of the balls are available to pre-order now from Just Socca.
New Season Football Tracksuits
Football presentation tracksuits have become more popular over recent years, and now we can show you some of the recently released new season tracksuits for 09/10 from around England. We will follow up soon with the recent European club tracksuits from teams such as AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Worn by the players prior to a game and sometimes after, these tracksuits are much better than your “standard” tracksuit faire and not the same old shellsuit style material that you may remember from years back. 
Arsenal 09/10 Tracksuit
The Arsenal presentation tracksuit is available with either a grey, dark blue or red top to suit your preferences, both with the black bottoms. Made by Arsenal’s kit manufacturer Nike this tracksuit looks pretty smart and is available to buy from UK Soccer Shop. Perfect for that Arsenal supporting child, brother, friend etc to get them ready for the season!
Chelsea 09/10 Tracksuit
The new Chelsea tracksuit can also be had in one of three colours, with the top available with a majority of blue, white or black top to match the black bottoms. There is something about the Chelsea Adidas presentation kit which looks a bit more modern that the Arsenal one above, but that may just be our opinion! Buy from UK Soccer Shop
Liverpool 09/10 Tracksuit 
Rather surprisingly, the Liverpool presentation tracksuit doesn’t had a massive red colour influence as you might expect, being predominently dark blue, with the red only appearing in the colour flick running down the jacket. This actually looks pretty similar to the Adidas England Cricket fleece, which is itself a classy looking jacket (that I own!), so I quite like the look of this. Buy from UK Soccer Shop.
Base Layers
Base Layers are huge right now in the world of sport. Offering you the ability to control your body temperature and in doing so increase your performance all for just wearing a layer under your top, wearing a base layer is almost a no-brainer nowadays. It can be difficult to know whether you need a “hot” or “cold” base layer, so hopefully we can give you a bit of guidance!
Base Layers are manufactured by a number of companies these days, the main being Skins, and Canterbury along with the big hitters like Adidas and Nike. They all do essentially the same job, but using their own specific technologies to do it. Over the coming weeks we will showcase the latest from each of these companies, but right now we just want to give you an idea about them all and show you some prices below. Compare Baselayer Prices Now!
The keep cool base layer is created on the basis that if you wear a layer below your top layer, on the hottest days your sweat will be drawn away from your body by the base layer, leaving your top layer free of sweat and therefore making you feel more comfortable. It may seem odd that on a hot day you wear an additional layer, but trust me, it really works to keep you more comfortable!
Keep warm base layers act as an additional layer in the more conventional fashion, however as they are tight to the skin they don’t make you look or feel more bulky. They are built to keep the heat close into the body and not allow it to escape, and can be worn under almost any clothing. In the UK these keep warm base layers are especially useful in our winter, but there are plenty of times even in spring, autumn (and if we’re honest, summer!) that it can get a bit chilly so having a keep warm layer will get plenty of use!
The most popular base layer is the short sleeve top version, but plenty of footballers find themselves preferring the long sleeve version (especially in the winter), and more and more people are wearing the base layer shorts. Not personally sure on base layer shorts to be honest, but they work for some people so if it works for you then great, but I don’t feel I’m losing much heat from that area of the body when running around playing football. There are also all in one type suits which can look a bit bizarre and are less versatile than separate shorts and tops, but if you want the full outfit these are the way to go.
But what if you are worried that you’ll look silly with that belly poking out? This is a worry that is held by many people! The first thing to note though is that a base layer is exactly that – a base. Worn under a football shirt or t-shirt, the only bit people will see will be on your arms or legs, so no worries about showing off your belly!
If you play any type of sport in the cold or hot then some skins like all those mentioned above are getting towards a “must-buy”, despite the fact that they are still relatively new things in the world of sport. And if you are the type that likes to go off into the snow skiing or boarding you’ll get even more use out of a “cold” base layer. Cricketers would get good use out of a “hot” under layer in our summer and this is where I personally use the dual t-shirt option until this year when I’m going to buy a base layer!
So, once you’ve decided if you want a hot or cold layer you can view some of the options below, which start to show you the colours available and the different companies supplying them. If you’ve already entered the world of base layers and want to give your opinion, then please enter a comment in the box below the price comparison area and let everyone know what you think of them!
