World Cup 2018: New ball to be used for knockout stage
The Telstar Mechta replaces the black and white Telstar 18, which "paid homage to the first Adidas World Cup ball" from 1970
A new match ball will be used for the knockout stage of the World Cup in Russia, Fifa has announced.
The Telstar Mechta will replace the Telstar 18, the Adidas ball used throughout the group stage.
The new ball comes with a "vivid red design", said to be inspired by the host nation's colours and "the rising heat of knockout stage football".
Mechta translates as "dream" in Russian and the new ball will be used for the first time on Saturday.
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"The Telstar 18 was a huge step forward technically when it came to official match balls," said Dean Lokes, Adidas' vice president of products.
"With the Telstar Mechta we have taken that same innovative design and re-imagined it."
The ball's panel design features a metallic print execution and texture graphic effect and, like the Telstar 18, has an embedded near-field communication (NFC) chip which allows smartphone users to interact with the ball.
Each ball generates a unique identifier upon interaction and unlocks exclusive content and information for the user.
Harry Kane kept one of the Telstar 18 match balls from England's game with Panama after scoring a hat-trick
Source: bbc.com
Source: bbc.com
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