WORLD CUP USA '94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : RUMOR OF THE DAY: IS THE BALL SMALLER?

WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : RUMOR OF THE DAY: IS THE BALL SMALLER?

By HELENE ELLIOTT

June 21, 1994 12 AM PT

While fans of American’s pastime debate whether the baseball is juiced, at least one World Cup player thinks the soccer ball in use here has been altered.

Belgian goalkeeper Michel Preud’homme said he thinks the ball has been reduced in size, perhaps to increase scoring for Americans who might not appreciate low-scoring soccer games.

“The ball is different than in previous competitions. It’s smaller and it goes faster,” he said. “The goalkeeper must adapt. It puts some restraint on the play of the goalkeeper.”

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : RUMOR OF THE DAY: IS THE BALL SMALLER?

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