The Adidas Tango 12 () was the official match ball 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 UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

, 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, were 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 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, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

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 (used during the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

). 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 2011–12 UEFA Europa League 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 and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

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 tourn ...

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

syllabic abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

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 Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back. Widely regarded as one of the greates ...

unveiled the ball. Cafusa was also used for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, the

2013–14 Russian Premier League The 2013–14 Russian Premier League was the 22nd season of the Russian football championship since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and 12th under the current Russian Premier League name. The season started on 13 July 2013 and concluded on 17 ...

, the 2013 Copa del Rey final, 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