Nike Seitiro Football Launch Event
Nike staged an exclusive media event at London's flagship NikeTown store to mark the launch of the new Seitiro football. SoccerBible dropped by to check out the new ball's features and catch up with a few of Nike's Premier League footballers...
Premier League stars Ashley Cole, James Milner, Lucas Leiva, Clint Dempsey, Jay Spearing and Rafael and Fabio da Silva were all in attendance and ready to share their thoughts on the new matchball with SoccerBible.
Once inside the NikeTown store, we were greeted by four giant replicas of Nike's prestigious line-up of football boots for the new season - Mercurial Vapor Superfly, T90 Laser, CTR360 and Tiempo Legend Elite, but the collection of new Nike weapons had to take an unfamiliar back seat as the emphasis of the day was very much on the new Seitiro ball.
Nike has been the official Premier League matchball supplier since the 2000/01 season and a new generation football has been unleashed each year since. The Seitiro replaces the acclaimed Nike T90 Tracer football as the official matchball for the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga. The Seitiro will have to hit the back of the net 1064 times next season in the Premier League to better the Tracer's 10/11 goal total!
Liverpool and Brazil International midfielder Lucas Leiva is amongst the Premier League players who have already played competitive games with the Seitiro, so we were intrigued to hear the Anfield man's verdict on the ball used in this summer's Copa America tournament.
Lucas said: It's a very good ball - it has a soft feel and Nike have worked very hard to improve the ball. I am very glad that this ball will be used in the Premier League this season.
SoccerBible took a seat for a private lecture on the Seitiro s technology from an Ekin (because he knows Nike products backwards!) guru. The Seitiro has a similar panel construction to its predecessor, the T90, and is made up of five different layers. Each of which serve a specific purpose. From golf-like dimples to reduce drag and make the ball more aerodynamic for an accurate flight path to a 360 degree sweetspot to truly make it a goalkeepers worst nightmare!
Every Seitiro features a stamp which signifies that it has Nike RaDaR technology. This stands for Rapid Decisive and Response.
Visual Acuity is the science of how human vision works and the combination of shapes and colours used on the ball have all been deliberately selected for maximum visibility. The Seitiro's graphic is designed to be as eye-catching as possible as the ball moves through your peripheral vision - and it looks great, too!
Liverpool's Jay Spearing was keen to express his view on the release by sayin The design means you can see the ball that moment earlier. It speeds up the game. You have the chance to think where your next pass is going to go. It's crucial to be ready to pass quickly.
Through a process of extensive laboratory testing by Nike boffins and play tests by elite players Nike are confident they have set a precedent with the Seitiro for all other footballs.
Chelsea s Ashley Cole added: We've been training with the ball for three weeks. If you ask every player who has trained with the Seitiro, they will probably agree that it is the best ball we've had.
The Nike Total 90 Seitiro is the new official ball for the Premier League season 2011-12; tested, developed and used by the best players in the world, for the best league in the world. Nike have billed the Seitiro as 'The World's Best Ball' and it is hard to disagree.
A positive reaction from some of the Premier League's top players who will be hoping to see a few Nike Seitiro footballs rippling opposition nets next season!
Stay tuned to SoccerBible for full interviews with Ashley Cole and Liverpool pair Lucas Leiva and Jay Spearing. And why not share your thoughts of the launch event and the new Nike Seitiro football with the SoccerBible community online.
