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 The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Variations of the design had been produced for various competitions including the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, the South American Football Championship, and the football competition of the Summer Olympics. The Tango balls have had different names applied to them to distinguish them in their construction, the competitions they have been used for, and even if they are official match balls or replica balls. In 2011,

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

introduced the new Tango 12 ball, but aside from the name there are no particular similarities between the new ball and the old Adidas Tango family.

Tango Durlast

The 1978 Tango Durlast consisted of twenty identical hexagonal panels with 'triads' creating the impression of 12 circles around the pentagons. The Adidas Tango Durlast ball was made of genuine leather with a shiny waterproof plastic coating.

Tango España

The Tango España by

was the official match ball of

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

held in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The ''Tango España'' had improved water resistant qualities through its rubberized seams. These proved to be not very durable and resulted in the ball having to be changed several times during some games. This ball was the last genuine leather ball to be used in the World Cup.

Tango variations

Other variations of the Tango ball seen include: Tango Roma, Tango Napoli, Tango Munich, Tango Scorpion, Tango Mendoza, Tango Gol, Tango Indoor Ball, Tango Tournoi, and Tango Glider.

Use in heraldry

Adidas Tango ball is featured on the club badge of Ukrainian club Chornomorets Odesa, as well as Russian football team Mordovia Saransk.

References

External links

Tango balls
on Adidas website
Adidas ball history

''The Guardian'' - The Joy of Six: great footballs

The History of FIFA World Cup Match Ball
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Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

Products introduced in 1978 FIFA World Cup balls 1978 FIFA World Cup 1982 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 1980 UEFA Euro 1984 UEFA Euro 1988 UEFA European Championship balls Olympic football balls