Headlines: Adidas getting exactly what they wanted out of this ball

Headlines, that is. Topping the roll this morning, a story of successful marketing - insert your own whoops of glee and slapping of backs, just to imagine how much fun this one was to write back at shoe-company HQ - and down below, some links and a video:

From the AP:

LONDON - Adidas has hit back at criticism that the World Cup ball is difficult to control and a nightmare for goalkeepers by saying it was widely tested and approved long ago.

Company spokesman Thomas van Schaik said Monday he was surprised to hear the criticisms, made by top goalkeepers such as Spain's Iker Casillas and Brazil's Julio Cesar, because the balls had been used for months without any complaints.

Van Schaik said that players heading for the World Cup had been practising with the "Jabulani" ball since it was launched in December and all the feedback until now had been positive.

Asked why it behaved differently at altitude, where many of the games will be played in South Africa, Van Schaik said that applied to all balls.

Guus Hiddink doesn't think much of the US's chances against England: "(England) are at a higher level."

Squad updates: Nigeria's final 23-man squad leaves out forwards Ikechukwu Uke and Victor Anichebe and let's see if either of them pull a Laryea Kingston, the Hearts midfielder-forward who according to reports cussed out manager Milovan Rajevac as a "stupid man" after Kingston was left off Ghana's final team.

Related: adidas' official video for the Jabalani ball.