The new ball, the one for the 2026 World Cup, already has a name: Trionda. It’s beautiful, very different from the ones from the 60s and 70s, when I played. In one of his delightful and unforgettable chronicles, Luis Fernando Verissimo said that when the boy received a ball as a gift from his father, he asked: “Don’t you have an instruction manual?”
An official, professional ball has a circumference of 68 centimeters to 70 cm and a weight of 410 grams to 450 g. For some players the ball becomes heavier. The important thing is to treat her well. It has become a cliché to say that the ball looks for the star, the top scorer. He’s the one who knows before anyone else where the ball is going to go. How do you know? Knowing. The star’s fantasy moves through the imaginary space between play and seriousness.
Before liking football, children are fascinated by the ball and its round shape. The ball must have appeared before the wheel. The spherical shape has always fascinated people and is present everywhere, in nature and in human creativity, such as in the work of the brilliant Leonardo da Vinci.
According to the Big Bang theory, life began with a ball of fire. English chemist Harold Kroto won the Nobel Prize in 1996 for discovering a molecular form for carbon, fullerene, which has a spherical shape. The world is a ball.
In June next year, the ball will roll at the World Cup, in Mexico, Canada and the USA, if King Trump lets him. The most praised team, the one that handles the ball the best, is Spain, due to its individual talent and strategy of controlling the ball and a lot of efficient exchange of passes.
Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Rodri — if the latter recovers his quality after a long absence due to injury — are among the best in the world. There are other great players. In addition to Spain, Argentina, France, Portugal, Brazil, England and Germany are among the candidates for the title. All, including Spain, have limitations in one or more positions.
Football is becoming more offensive, enjoyable and with lots of goals every day. In the middle of the week, there were many goals and excellent matches in the Champions League. The teams are intense, compact, advance marking and press to recover the ball closer to the other goal.
However, there is always a catch, sometimes they leave a lot of space behind the defenders’ backs for the counterattack. It’s not uncommon for games with a lot of goals for both sides. Teams are increasingly playing with just one centralized steering wheel. One or two midfielders mark, build and attack.
Brazilian teams are still hesitant, not knowing whether to press on the marking or to retreat and take more defensive precautions. Most still play with two midfielders in a line who rarely advance – like Flamengo played against Racing, with Jorginho and Pulgar, even though it was at Maracanã, in a 1-0 victory.
There is also an excessive fear of playing with more advanced defenders. In the 3-0 defeat suffered by Palmeiras against LDU, there were huge spaces between the sectors, as the defenders played very deep, almost inside the area, leaving a void in the midfield for the opponent to keep the ball, exchange passes and reach the goal.
Nothing is decided. There is no favorite anymore. I will no longer be surprised if Racing and LDU compete for the Libertadores title.
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