Copa America was supposed to take place last year, but as with so many things it got postponed and is set to take place this year instead. And ahead of the kick off in just under six weeks time, the official match ball has been released. May look familiar, but that’s only skin deep…
Anticipation for a summer of international football is back, with the delayed Euros also being joined by the delayed Copa America, which is set to take place in Colombia and Argentina between 13 June and 10 July. Now, you may remember the official match ball for the originally scheduled tournament dropping back in December 2019. But with technological advances over the last 12-18 months, that has been replaced by the new match ball, which, at first glance, may look the same, but that’s only on the surface.
The original Copa America 2020 match ball was the Nike Merlin model, and with significant advances in technology since then, that has been replaced in all competitions by the Nike Flight ball. And so it is here, too. The 2020 model was obviously never used, and so Nike have taken the same design aesthetic and laid it over the Flight model. It sees a white base with a ‘Tri’ graphic bordered by the colours of the competing nations, and it’s finished off with a big, bold red Swoosh. Simple, effective, and ready for competition with a minimum of fuss.
Below is the Merlin model for the 2020 competition, in case you wanted to compare.
The Copa America 2021 Official Match Ball is available on nike.com
