WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : SPOTLIGHT : THE GOAL IS GOALS, SO HIT A HOMER

This year’s World Cup has a kinship with this year’s baseball in one notable respect: The ball is juiced.

Adidas, responding to a request from FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, to help generate more scoring, has produced the Questra ball for the World Cup, much to the delight of everybody but the goalkeepers.

The new ball bounces higher, flies faster and swerves more than its predecessors. It tends toward the minimum size (a regulation ball should be no more than 28 inches, nor less than 27), is pumped to greater pressure than in the 1990 World Cup and even the heat encountered so far in the United States has worked to make it more lively.

Said an Adidas spokesman: “This has caused the air inside the ball to expand. The more pressure, the more spin an outfield player can get on it.”

Adidas introduced an extra layer in the casing of the ball and this extra cushion, it claims, helps an outfield player “feel” the ball better. The company also claims the ball travels 15% faster, much to the chagrin of those charged with keeping it out of the net.

Said Pat Bonner, Ireland’s keeper: “This ball goes faster than other balls and swerves as well. It is an extra problem for the goalkeepers. When the players of the ability that you have here strike the ball, it can really fly.”