UEFA happy with the newly laid fields for Euro

UEFA was 'highly satisfied' with the way the newly laid field at St. Jakob Park held up for the first QF.

UEFA was “highly satisfied” with the way the newly laid field at St. Jakob Park held up for the European Championship quarterfinal match between Portugal and Germany.

Although the turf appeared uneven, with the edges of the individual rolls still obvious and lending the field a patchwork appearance, it did not seem to affect play Thursday in Germany’s 3-2 win.

“All the reactions we got, from our experts and officials at the match, is that it was OK,” UEFA spokesman Wolfgang Eichler said Friday. “We’re highly satisfied.”

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The field had been replaced Monday after a torrential downpour ruined the surface during Turkey’s 2-1 Group A win over Switzerland on June 11. The imported turf from the Netherlands had minimal time to bed down before the first Euro 2008 knockout game, but players slipped only occasionally and the ball rolled well.

That left the field’s appearance as UEFA’s main concern. There were different shades of green throughout the field and some parts of the pitch appeared to be drenched, while others looked to be dry.

But no holes were visible and only a few divots were appearing. “Of course there is room for improvement with regards to the appearance of the pitch, but that is happening all the time,” Eichler said. “So far as the players are concerned, there were no problems.”

The old surface at St. Jakob Park would have been fine for Thursday’s quarterfinal match, but the demands of players training on it as well as a second quarterfinal game between the Netherlands and Russia two days later and a semi-final match on Wednesday would have been too much.

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Germany had decided against practicing on the field the day before the game, although Portugal did it without problems. Players from both teams cautiously analyzed the turf during warmups, but even after rain fell in the second half, the conditions was not affected.

UEFA spent euro200,000 (US$310,000) on laying the new turf at the venue after the grass was drenched during a game early in the tournament, with the ball sticking in puddles and players splashing surface water whenever they ran. Portugal faced Switzerland at the stadium last Sunday and the old pitch also was not a factor. It was the first time a field has needed replacing at a European Championship.

UEFA also had to deal with turf issues in last month’s Champions League final, when the Luzhniki Stadium’s artificial playing surface in Moscow was replaced with natural grass.