adidas "Beau Jeu" Euro 2016 match ball

“Beau Jeu” inspired by ”the beautiful game” and tournament host country, France

One of the most iconic soccer players of all time, Zinédine Zidane, has taken to his personal Instagram page to reveal Beau Jeu, the Official Match Ball of the UEFA EURO 2016 group stages.

Beau Jeu, translated in English as “the beautiful game”, is a key indicator of the location for the upcoming European competition (France). The combination of colors shows the blue, white, and red of the French flag, and has a wealth of silver to hint at the silverware that all of the players will be hoping to obtain at the end of the tournament. The letters “E U R O” and the figures “2 0 1 6” are displayed on the ball and are easily visible when the ball is at rest (during flight, I seriously doubt that you will be able to read the message at all).

Today, the midfield maestro Zinédine Zidane will take part in an event showcasing the ball, and it will be taking place on the world’s first digital soccer stadium entitled FUTURE ARENA in Saint Denis, Paris. According to adidas, “FUTURE ARENA is a five a side soccer field with an incredible 360° projected digital soccer stadium surrounding the players who dare to take the field and experience what it feels like to play in front of 50,000 screaming fans. The digital fans will respond in real time to every movement on the field of play: the goals; the skills and the heartbreak of playing in a real UEFA EURO fixture.” FUTURE ARENA will be available to the average player for the few days after Zidane’s showcase, but we definitely hope to see adidas creating a plethora of FUTURE ARENAs across the globe so that we can also experience the ball AND the ultimate stage it is said to provide.

Apparently being developed ever since the Brazuca launched, the Beau Jeu holds on to most of the design elements that made the Brazuca an extremely well-received creation from the three stripes. We expect the Beau Jeu to still display the impressive speed of the Brazuca, and adidas are claiming that they have made some additions to the ball in order to aid in grip and in-flight visibility. Like most balls released for major tournaments, teams will be given 6 months to train with the ball in order to get used to the product. As this is typically the norm, we imagine any complaints should be well noted long before the Euros actually start…and, it has us wondering how in the world the Jabulani was able to make its way into a World Cup…seriously.

adidas match ball - Euro Beau Jeu

The only criticism we have is just the general idea of having a ball used only for the group stages. Any collector or fan of new adidas ball releases is going to have to snag the Beau Jeu AND whatever ball the German giants release for the final few games of the actual tournament in the summer. Of course, everything comes back to business, but there has to be a point where a brand, instead of drumming up more business and money, pushes a consumer away or turns them off to their brand.

Look out for the newest adidas toy over at SoccerPro.com. As I am absolutely addicted to anything hi-vis, I wonder if there will be a winter version of the Beau Jeu created with the blinding orange that adidas uses on their winter gear. Either way, this ball will definitely be something worth snagging if you are interested in a high quality ball.

 

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