{{short description|Football by Adidas}} {{Infobox product | title = Adidas Europass | image = Euro 2008 ball.JPG | image_size = 200 | alt = [[Euro 2008]] Europass ball | caption = | type = | inventor = | inception = {{start date and age|2008}} | manufacturer = [[Adidas]] | available = | current supplier = | last production = | models = Europass<br> Europass Gloria <br> Terrapass | website = | notes = }} '''Europass''' is a [[ball (association football)|football]] made by [[Adidas]]. It was the official match ball for [[UEFA Euro 2008]]. The ball was officially presented on 2 December 2007 during the group draw for the final tournament. For the [[UEFA Euro 2008 Final|final]], a silver version, the "Europass Gloria", was used. The same ball but with different design (depending on competition) was used in [[UEFA Champions League]] from 2008 through 2009 and in [[2009 UEFA Super Cup]] and [[2009–10 UEFA Europa League]].
The ''Terrapass'', similar to ''Europass'' ball, was used in the [[2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship|2009 European Under-21]] and [[UEFA Women's Euro 2009|Women's European Championship]], as well as some international matches.
==Technical information== The ball is made of 14 panels instead of the traditional 32 panels. It's an evolution of the ball [[Adidas Teamgeist|Teamgeist]], used for the [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006 World Cup]] in [[Germany]] but with new PSC (creeps) surface design. The edges are thermally bonded instead of being stitched and a special adhesive is used for durability and water resistance.
==Criticism== Majority of the criticism the ball faced came from goalkeepers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.uvic.ca/~jfopdand/final/europass/europass.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-07-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811011242/http://web.uvic.ca/~jfopdand/final/europass/europass.htm |archive-date=2014-08-11 }}</ref> [[Germany national football team|Germany]]'s goalkeeper coach, [[Andreas Köpke]], said to reporters, "Basically no one is 100 percent satisfied with this ball." He added, "It is pointless to lament this," adding that his team had tried to make the best of it. "[But] I don't think we will get more goals because the ball swirls."
"I have had a few problems with the official balls, I only started working with them a week ago, but they are very different from the ones used for the 2006 World Cup. During the first half, I went to catch the ball and it started to float a bit," German goalkeeper [[Jens Lehmann]] had complained. Co-host [[Austria national football team|Austria]]'s goalkeeper, [[Alexander Manninger]], as well as [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech]] goalkeeper [[Petr Čech]], also expressed their dissatisfaction, with the former stating, "This ball is not the keeper's friend."
[[Italy national football team|Italian]] goalkeepers likewise were not very satisfied with the ball. [[Gianluigi Buffon]] said, "Maybe we just have to get used to it. But it won't matter, I'll get the ball anyway." Meanwhile, [[Marco Amelia]] told reporters, "It changes direction. To not make a mess trying to stop it, it's better to beat it away."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://soccerlens.com/adidas-europass-the-official-football-of-euro-2008-done/7661/|title = Football News & Transfer Rumours| date=2 June 2008 }}</ref>
Adidas replied to all the criticism by saying, "The ball's new surface structure allows players to control and direct it perfectly in all weather conditions." It also pointed out that the ball's new surface texture on the outer skin guaranteed "optimum grip between ball and boot", as well as better grip between glove and ball for goalkeepers.
==See also== * [[Adidas Teamgeist]]
==References== {{Commons category}} {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box|title=[[List of UEFA European Championship official match balls|UEFA European Championship official ball]]|before=[[Adidas Roteiro|Roteiro]]|after=[[Adidas Tango 12]]|years=[[UEFA Euro 2008|2008]]}} {{s-end}} {{Adidas}} {{UEFA Euro 2008}} {{UEFA European Championship symbols}}
[[Category:Adidas footballs|Europass]] [[Category:UEFA Euro 2008]] [[Category:Products introduced in 2007]] [[Category:UEFA European Championship balls]]