ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  As the Germans crushed Brazil in the semi-final and finally took the trophy home, few among the millions watching the 2014 World Cup in pubs and streets across the world spared a thought for the ball itself — the Brazuca. Pakistan, a country that thrives on using coke-crates as cricket wickets and is 164th in football rankings as of June 2014, manufactured and exported the Brazuca balls to Brazil after Adidas’ Chinese supplier could not fulfill the demand for the biggest event in the sporting world.

In an interview with Reuters, as reported by Express Tribune, Khawaja Masood Akhter, CEO and owner of Sialkot-based Forward Sports, said that he had dreamed of manufacturing footballs for the World Cup since watching it in Germany and he had never felt so energized. However, executives were reluctant to give Pakistan, a country with outdated equipment, the order for such a large-scale event. In order to show executives of the World Cup that he was capable of fulfilling this task, Akhter set up a brand new factory in just 33 days. The average time taken for such an endeavour is roughly six months.

Forward Sports has always been a popular exporter for major football tournaments such as the Champions League, the French League and the German Bundesliga. According to Global Post, Forward Sports is the only factory in its area that employs women; it currently employs 600 women. Furthermore, the company recently invested in thermal bonding technology, the only type of technology that is deemed suitable for FIFA’s standards. The footballs underwent about 80 various tests including exposing the ball to intense heat and humidity and striking it from a machine at a speed of 60km/h before being exported to Brazil. Akhter’s factory also relies on diesel powered generators, as the electricity shortfall is about 60 percent during the summer.

The name Brazuca was decided after a public voting poll and officially announced by Adidas Group after it won 70 percent of the vote; the other options were Bossa Nova and Carnavalesca.

Despite the fact that 3,600 men and women participated in constructing the colorful Brazuca and that the upper-middle class in Pakistan anxiously watched the World Cup matches as well as engaged in furious Facebook and TV-lounge debates over match strategies, the majority of the population still describes cricket, not football, as its main passion. Since Akhter wanted his factory men and women to understand the gigantic achievement that was manufacturing a World Cup Football, he built a football pitch for his employees; however, his employees played cricket instead.

For a country that is always quite low in the football rankings and one that makes international headlines due to the current political and terror situations, the manufacturing and exporting of the Brazucas is an honor. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Sarfaraz Bashir, president of Sialkot’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed how this has been a matter of national pride for Pakistan.

"Football is the world's most popular sport. The fact that FIFA chose Pakistan to manufacture footballs for the World Cup tournament is an honor for our country."