The original ball "Join the Team!" is made with durable materials based on Sony's new materials development technology. The ball is an expression of our hope that African kids will continue to dream . Lots of people can play with a single ball. That means a ball is a present that has a major impact. I'll never forget the joy on the faces of the children during the trial in 2009 when we gave them the prototype original ball. We want to give lots of balls to the kids and help link the dreams of African kids to the future.

A soccer ball is something you kick and knock about a lot, so I tried to design the ball to look good in motion. The four-color bar expresses football's diversity; the convergence of the colors expresses the feeling of children "joining the team"; the world map makes the ball look like a globe and sends out the message that football brings the world together. Technically it's very difficult to design a ball freely because you always have to think about the seams. It wasn't easy, but in the end I think I managed to come up with a beautiful ball that was distinctively "Sony." I've been playing football since I was a kid, so I like soccer balls. Still, I never imagined I'd get a chance to design one here at Sony! That really inspired me. I hope this original ball will help improve the environment of children playing football in Africa and give a boost to kids who aspire to become world-class players. For me as a football player, there's nothing that would make me happier.