GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!! Mario Gotze with the poetic volley off his own chest in the 113th minute of the world cup final. Tonight Berlin will won’t sleep and Buenos Aires will wallow, that is the reality. But what if there were a different reality? A situation where the match starts just as any other, except instead of solid blue, the Argentinians are wearing the white and powder blue stripes we have come to know and love/(hate). A simple pattern difference affecting the outcome of the worlds largest sporting event? Here’s how:

Think about about a standard foot/soccer ball. What do you see? Black and White pentagons, the classic ball. The last time this ball was used in World Cup play was in the ‘74 World Cup in West Germany. But why? Why was the iconic Adidias Telstar ball changed? It changed because if you’ve ever seen one rotating with the english Messi puts on it, it looks like a blur of mixed dark and light. It is nearly impossible to judge the spin. Fastforward to 2014. The match ball for the World Cup was special designed to help player’s sight and perception to identify spin and trajectory. The pattern of the ball alone has changed how the game is played and won.

Now back to the uniforms. There is a stat somewhere in the universe on the win percentage of Argentina when they wear their classic attire vs an alternative. It might even be contradictory to my arguement. However, it is beyond my grasp. Let’s instead look at the optics. In a 2013 study by Betinna et. al, there was a significant difference in computer users hitting a striped target with their mouse vs a solid target. Surprisingly, the vertically striped target was hit more often than the solid target. While at first it might seem like an advantage for the opposing team to better judge the velocity and direction of the opponent, it may be more advantageous for teammates when making a pass. Would the number of errant passes and turnovers decreased? Who knows.

As always, hindsight is 20/20 (pardon the vision pun). But, the ‘What if’s?’ still remain. Would the game have gone differently had the South American team worn different colors? Probably not, but as in any sport at the highest level, it’s a game of millimeters and milliseconds. That’s what makes analysis and speculation possible. Regardless of the effects of patterns on perception in the World Cup, it will be an event not soon over-looked or forgotten.