if you drove by the Death Star and noticed a weird pink glow emanating from the inside – the UV grow lights at AT&T Stadium are hard at work for the #CopaAmérica2024 grass installation. Full irragation system, 10″+ of top soil and Kentucky bluegrass. pic.twitter.com/z64LlD6zEv
— peter (@peet2) June 13, 2024
Cowboys execs know the eyes of the soccer world are on their home stadium, and remain hopeful there will be no major issues during the USMNT opener.
There is also recognition behind the scenes at AT&T Stadium that they have been on a learning curve. In March, it hosted the final of the CONCACAF Nations League, which saw the USMNT beat Mexico 2-0. In coverage before the game, CBS Sports host Susannah Fuller called the pitch “patchy” and “less than ideal”.
To improve, and with the added impetus of host duties for the World Cup in two years, the Cowboys have gone to new lengths to get it right. An irrigation system to keep the grass watered was placed under the 10-plus inches of topsoil, while huge artificial growing lights that can be lowered and raised were installed to provide light for quick growth and health.
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter said on Saturday: “We were here in Nations League in March and this field appears to be much better. Seems to be a base of sand, makes it much softer, but the grass itself looked really good and we were pleasantly surprised with the playing surface.”
Defender Chris Richards was also happy with the surface in Arlington. “I thought the pitch looked good,” he said. “It looked like proper grass, didn’t see really any holes in it. So I’m pretty excited to play on it.”
Chile boss Ricardo Gareca, however, reported his players felt the surface was dry on Friday night, despite it being heavily watered before kick-off and at half time.
“The pitch, they told me it was very dry,” he said. “It was a field that was a smaller size, a very small field. So OK then, we have to keep adapting.
Both managers criticised the surface for Peru’s 0-0 draw with Chile (Carlos Sipan/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
“It’s something we’ll analyse over everything because logically with a small field, with a dry field, sometimes that accommodates one team better than the other.”
The unavoidable issue could be that grass laid on top of concrete, or even the more extensive process undergone in Dallas, is not the same as permanent top-level pitches in Europe and South America.
John Mallinson is the founder of a British firm that has constructed pitches for Wembley Stadium, Manchester United and Manchester City among many others during his 40-year career. The Lancashire-based expert says quality surfaces depend on excellent drainage and the right calibration of subsurfaces.
“Being laid days beforehand wouldn’t necessarily be a problem on its own,” he said. “If the material below it is not capable enough of taking water, then you will get issues.
“It will also depend on fine details such as the particle size of the sand used under the root zone (a mix of soil and sand common at many Premier League grounds). You need a tough enough root zone to take a stud or blade without it ripping up.”
Mallinson thinks insufficient drainage of heavily watered pitches could cause the “trampoline” effect described by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who labelled the Atlanta surface a “disaster” that “jumped on you as you ran”.
Lionel Messi is challenged during Argentina’s 2-0 win in Atlanta (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
“If the drainage system isn’t right on a recently turfed pitch then you get some areas of the pitch that are wetter than others and you get a variable bounce,” he said. “The water trickles down through the cut lines.”
The dilemma for temporary pitches, he added, is that they need to be watered aggressively to grow enough.
The issues do not come as a surprise for Nedum Onuoha, the former Manchester City defender who spent two seasons in MLS with Real Salt Lake between 2018 and 2020.
“The issue is the biggest stadiums in the U.S. aren’t football stadiums, they are American football stadiums,” he said. “The fields at MLS grounds are way better. They’re more consistent and fair better even during the summers, which are extreme across a lot of America.
“The turf they lay out for games like at Copa can be really inconsistent for movement off the ball and changing direction can be tough. It cuts up a lot because it’s not really there.
“Add in 30C (86F) heat and a field that is really soft in parts and patchy in others and you don’t even know how it’ll bounce.”
Onuoha is equally not surprised at how outspoken players have been.
“The highest level affords you the opportunity to not have to play on fields that force you to play in a way you know you don’t usually play,” he said. “So the physical toll is higher, both with weather and the surface. There are 20 stadiums with perfectly good fields but they aren’t big enough so they do that.”
The reality remains that this tournament is a dry run for the world’s biggest in just two years. It is about laying foundations, in every sense, and getting things right.
But the early reviews are a warning shot — managers and players are not going to be shy in calling them out.
(Top photo: David J Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5584059/2024/06/23/copa-america-field-argentina-usmnt/
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Publish date : 2024-06-23 06:04:52
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