2
OTTAWA — Call it a sticking point at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
While some teams, particularly those from South America, are voicing their displeasure this week at the use of artificial turf, others see it as a fact of life. And FIFA, the sports governing body, says everyone needs to get used to it.
"Yeah, I think the game should be played on grass, but the game's played on turf, so we just have to put that aside and play," U.S. midfielder Danny Szetela said Thursday, a day before his team meets Brazil in a key Group D match on the turf at Ottawa's Frank Clair Stadium (7:45 p.m. ET).
Of the six venues playing host to the tournament, three — Victoria, Burnaby, B.C., and Edmonton — are natural-grass surfaces, while the others — Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal — use FIFA-approved artificial turf.
For players such as Szetela, who plays at the club level for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer where turf pitches are commonplace, it's not a big adjustment.
"Some guys are a little upset that, 'Oh, some teams get to play on grass, some teams get to play on turf.' But we just put that aside and both teams are playing on turf, so hopefully the better team can win," said Szetela, who has three goals so far to tie teammate Freddy Adu for the competition lead heading into Thursday night's matches.
To others, however, artificial turf is still foreign.
"The ball plays a little more true, it will bounce a little more and it's just easier to play on," Canadian co-captain Will Johnson, who plays club soccer with Dutch team SC Heerenveen, said of natural grass. "Turf is new, so guys are getting used to it."
"Most soccer players in the world will tell you they want to play on grass."
Johnson was speaking from Edmonton, where Canada met Austria later Thursday night. His teammate, 'keeper Asmir Begovic, agreed.
"Soccer should be played on grass all the time instead of turf," he said.
For FIFA, the tournament appears to be as much of a showcase for turf as it is for the talent playing on it.
While it was used exclusively at the 2005 FIFA Under-17 Championships, this is the first time it's been used at this high of a level of a tournament.
Reporters arriving to pick up their accreditation for the tournament in Ottawa were treated to video demonstrations of the playing surface and information pamphlets are on prominent display in its media centre.
While the turf is a far cry from the old days of carpet over asphalt because it utilizes elements such as longer turf fibres, rubber particles and sand infills to make it more grass-like, it still heats up and it's still known to cause a good turf burn.
Plus, the ball tends to scoot and spin at times while at others, it sticks. You'll notice players getting the ball stuck under their foot more than on natural grass.
"At times it (sticks), at times it doesn't," Szetela said. "You've just got to concentrate a little more on your passes and, hopefully, the ball doesn't stick at the wrong time."
The use of turf is slowly catching on in Europe, where club teams Red Bull Salzburg in Austria and Heracles Almelo in the Netherlands play their home games on turf. Others, such as German powerhouse Bayern Munich, use it at their training ground.
Southern hemisphere teams seem to have a particular dislike of it, though, and when the Americans warmed up for the tournament with a June friendly against Canada at Frank Clair Stadium, U.S. coach Thomas Rongen predicted as much.
"It's a tricky surface for Brazil," he said.
After Argentina was held to a 0-0 draw by the Czech Republic in its opener last Saturday, coach Hugo Tocalli expressed his displeasure with the turf.
"I thought the surface was not appropriate for under-20, perhaps under-17," he said. "We hope the (other teams) don't get any injuries."
At Toronto's BMO Field, where the July 22 final will be played, Portugal beat New Zealand 2-0 in its opener on Monday. Afterward, coach Jose Couceiro said the turf was too hot and abrasive and his players were forced to water their boots to comfort their feet.
But FIFA's not having any of it.
During his stopover in Ottawa on Tuesday, chairman Jack Warner defended the use of turf and had a message for the naysayers like Argentina: like it or not, the artificial stuff is here to stay.
"Some countries will still have to come to terms with the modern trends," he said. "You have to accept the fact in football that change is a fact of life.
"Artificial turf is the future of football worldwide. At the Champions League in Europe, this is exactly the type of turf on which they play. So please, Argentina. Please."
