Pazzini no fan of World Cup ball

Italy striker Giampaolo Pazzini says the Adidas World Cup ball is a "disaster."

Italy has been training with the ball at its training camp in the Italian Alps in a bid to become accustomed to it.

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"The balls are a disaster, both for goalkeepers and attackers," Pazzini said on Saturday. "It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it.

"It is especially bad for the goalkeepers if it means they concede a goal because they can't judge the trajectory," he said. "It is like one of those balls you buy at the supermarket."

On Friday, Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar called the Adidas ball "horrible" and "terrible."

Pazzini is bidding to play in his first World Cup finals having scored once in six appearances for Italy. This season he hit 19 goals in 38 games to help Sampdoria into the Champions League.

If he is chosen, Pazzini is likely to start behind Alberto Gilardino for a place in Marcello Lippi's team. It was Gilardino's form for Fiorentina that forced Pazzini to move to Sampdoria in search of first-team football.

"I get on well with Alberto, who has helped me out even after I left Fiorentina," Pazzini said. "There's no rivalry, I am extremely happy when he does well."

The 26-year-old Pazzini has shown he has the temperament to succeed on the big stage. He marked his debut for Italy with a goal against Montenegro and in 2007 he became the first player to score at the new Wembley Stadium, on the way to a hat trick for Italy's Under-21 side in a 3-3 draw with England Under-21s.

"I am doing all I can to give the coach difficult decisions and make it to the World Cup, which would be my first," he said.