The developers of the Jabulani ball are adamant that it had nothing to do with the freak goal conceded by England goalkeeper Robert Green.
The West Ham man allowed a low shot from Clint Dempsey from outside the box to squirm through his grasp and over the line, pegging England back to a 1-1 draw in their World Cup Group C opener in Rustenburg.
Green accepts human error was the major factor, but the howler follows pre-tournament warnings that the ball could be difficult for goalkeepers to deal with.
Green's rival for the number one jersey, David James, said before the tournament that he feared someone would be made to look "an idiot" by it because he claimed it was difficult to read the flight of the ball and judge the bounce.
Adidas, the producers of the ball, stood by the Jabulani today and pointed to some other impressive goalkeeping displays so far which suggest Green's error was the exception rather than the rule.
Thomas Schaikvan, head of public relations for adidas, told Press Association Sport: "We are happy with the ball's performance and we don't think it had anything to do with the goal England conceded. On the contrary, if you look at the games so far, some goalkeepers have been the stars of the tournament.
"The Nigeria goalkeeper (Vincent Enyeama) and (United States goalkeeper) Tim Howard won the man of the match award in their games, and the South Africa goalkeeper (Itumeleng Khune) was also excellent against Mexico.
"There have been some fantastic saves and the ball is allowing goalkeepers to perform at their best.
"We are five games into the tournament and we are confident and pleased at the ball's behaviour, and the players are getting more confident with it."
Referring to criticisms that the ball is too small and too light, Schaikvan added: "I would invite anyone to test the circumference and weight of this ball. We have produced balls since 1963, nobody does it better than we do and this is the best ball we have ever produced."
Andy Harland, a senior lecturer at Loughborough University where prototypes of the ball were tested in various conditions, said: "There is a noticeable difference between how the ball performs at altitude compared to how it performs at sea level.
"When FIFA made the decision to bring the World Cup to South Africa they took the decision that some games would be played at altitude and some at sea level.
"There was nothing in the research agenda that was set for us to develop a ball that would play the same way at altitude as at sea level, if that is even possible."
Asked about the goal, Harland said: "It's very difficult to blame the ball and I haven't seen anything to suggest that the flight of the ball was dodgy or that the bounce of the ball was dodgy.
"Every player is entitled to their own opinion and some some people will look for something to blame, but from an evidence point of view I don't see that the ball was at fault."
FIFA head of media Nicolas Maingot added: "Adidas has been a long-standing partner of FIFA and they are a very experienced company when it comes to equipment. They have been working on this ball and it has been tested, approved and is now being used for this tournament."
