Adidas, the makers of the Jabulani World Cup ball, are preparing their defence against claims that the ball was to blame for two goalkeeping errors at the weekend.

First up was Robert Green's error that led to England drawing 1-1 with the United States on Saturday and then Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi flapped at the ball that saw his side lose 1-0 to Slovenia.

Adidas's Thomas Schaikvan said: "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."

Come on, it wasn't the ball and we really shouldn't be looking for excuses like this. It was an error, one both keepers are not likely to make again for a long time.