AFTER having his Team GB Olympic dreams dashed, David Beckham has been spotted jumping out at unsuspecting members of the public near to the London 2012 stadium.
He’s even made some of them cry, such as schoolboy Christian Lewis.
Goldenballs surprised around 60 members of the public using the adidas photo booth installed in Westfield Stratford City shopping centre near to the Olympic Park, before posing for mostly smiley photos.
LA Galaxy star Beckham said: “It was a unique experience for me and the people who took part and there were some great reactions when we surprised them in the photo booth.
“I always love coming back to London and the activity was a great opportunity for me to get involved in the adidas Take The Stage campaign and get behind Team GB.”
adidas
Ball not to blame for Green howler
THE World Cup ball designed by Loughborough University has been defended after being implicated in Rob Green’s howler against the United States.
After the England goalie fluffed a bobbling shot from Clint Dempsey to allow the Americans a share of the points, both the England manager and England captain hinted that the Jabulani ball could have been at fault.
Skipper Steven Gerrard said: “We can’t criticise the keeper – the ball is tricky.”
And Fabio Capello said: “I spoke with some of the players and they said the ball changed direction at the last moment.”
Loughborough academic Dr Andy Harland has hit back, saying: “Don’t blame me or the ball.
“I’ve heard the complaints but it is only because players aren’t used to the ball.
“I can categorically state there is nothing wrong with it – we did years and years of research to get it right.”
And Adidas, maker of the Jabulani World Cup ball, has rejected claims that it was to blame.
Spokesman Thomas van Schaik said: “We are happy with the ball’s performance and we don’t think it had anything to do with the goal England conceded. On the contrary, if you look at the games so far, some goalkeepers have been the stars of the tournament.
“The Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and United States goalkeeper Tim Howard won the man-of-the-match award in their games, and the South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was also excellent against Mexico.”
Talking balls
IT’S been hard playing keepy-uppy with the ongoing debate over the new Jabulani World Cup Ball.
Since my last post on the subject more goalkeepers, strikers and even coaching staff have spoken out against the ball.
In goals, England’s David James says it’s “dreadful”, while Iker Cassilas of Spain says it’s “appalling”, and up front Brazilian hotshot Luis Fabiano described the ball as “weird” and German Mario Gomez said he found it “a little harder”.
And Denmark’s coach Morten Olsen has described the new World Cup football as “impossible”.
However Adidas spokesman Thomas Van Schaik says players have been practising with the ball since January and most of the feedback has been positive.
And Loughborough University’s Dr Andy Harland, who designed the ball himself, said: “It is more likely to fly true and do what the world’s best players want it to do.”
Goaltastic 