The Adidas Tango 12 () was the official match

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

of the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

, with variants being used for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The ball is named after the original and successful

Adidas Tango The Adidas Tango is a family and brand of association football balls originally introduced as the "Tango Durlast" in 1978, specifically for the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. Variations of the design had been produced for various competitions ...

family of footballs from the late 1970s, but the construction of the Tango 12 is completely different. Variations of the ball have been used in other contemporary competitions including the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

and the Summer Olympics – Adidas has not categorised these football as the "Adidas Tango 12" family, however they are listed here due to their similar design. The ball was officially presented on 2 December 2011, during the group draw for the final tournament in Kyiv. UEFA count the Tango 12 as the fourth incarnation of the ball although there have been other variations made in-between, The ball is reportedly designed to be easier to dribble and control than its predecessor the

Adidas Jabulani The Jabulani ( , ) was a ball (association football), football manufactured by Adidas. It was the List of FIFA World Cup official match balls, official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The ball is made from eight spherically moulded panels ...

(used during the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

). Tango 12 uses a construction design based on the Adidas Jabulani but heavily modified, thirty-two 2D panels instead of eight 3D panels. The Adidas Tango 12 features a modern interpretation of the design including a coloured outline inspired by the flags of the two host nations – Poland and Ukraine. Etched into the Tango design are three bespoke graphics which celebrate the decorative art of paper cutting, a tradition in the rural areas of both host countries which the designers say creates a link to the key characteristics of football – unity, rivalry and passion.Adidas Tango 12 Official Match Ball of UEFA EURO 2012(soccerballworld.com)
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Versions

The Tango variation for the

2011 UEFA Super Cup The 2011 UEFA Super Cup was the 36th UEFA Super Cup, between the reigning champions of the two club competitions organised by the European football governing body UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. It took place at the St ...

, the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...

as well as the Torfabrik for the

2011–12 Bundesliga The 2011–12 Bundesliga was the 49th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season started on 5 August 2011 with the opening match involving defending champions Borussia Dortmund and ended with the last games on 5 May ...

, use an older triangular grip texture instead of the newer, granular surface found on the Tango 12. Their construction is the same as the Tango 12; however, their appearance is similar to the Jabulani (excluding the UEFA Super Cup ball that applies respective colours and design).

Torfabrik

Torfabrik (English: "Goal factory") has been the Adidas ball for the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

since the 2011–12 season. This replaced the 2010–11 season's ''Jabulani Torfabrik'', based on the older Jabulani.

Adidas Cafusa

For the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

, Adidas produced the Cafusa. The ball used the same technology and materials as the Tango 12 (and Torfabrik) although with a different design. Cafusa was unveiled during the draw for the competition. The name "Cafusa" () is a

syllabic abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

of the words "" (''Carnival''), "" (''football'') and " samba". Former Brazil captain

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, he is regarded as one of the gr ...

unveiled the ball. Cafusa was also used for the

2012 FIFA Club World Cup The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 6 to 16 December 2012. It was the ninth edition of the FIFA Club World ...

, the 2013 Paraguay Apertura, and the 2012–13 Venezuelan First Division.

References

External links

Adidas ball history

{{UEFA European Championship symbols Adidas footballs, Tango 12 UEFA Euro 2012 Products introduced in 2011 UEFA European Championship balls

Versions

Torfabrik

Adidas Cafusa

See also

References

External links