The Hindu : Sport / Football : Anything but natural

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 17, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Anything but natural

LISBON, JUNE 16. The grass may look perfectly green at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade stadium but do not think it is natural.

Some 20 million artificial grass fibres were injected into the pitch to reinforce the natural grass so it can last for five Euro 2004 games in the space of 17 days.

``The system ensures that the organisers will have a good pitch throughout the tournament,'' said Helga Webers of Desso DLW Sports Systems.

The grass needed to be reinforced because the roof at the stadium prevents natural air circulation and first-rate grass growth. In all, the artificial fibres constitute some three per cent of the pitch.

After Euro 2004, the stadium will also be able to host rock concerts and other events without excessively damaging the field.

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A bonanza for sports paper: France's dramatic win over its old enemy England is expected to help French sports paper L'Equipe to double its normal daily sale.

L'Equipe printed 920,000 copies on Monday, the day after the match, and is hoping to sell at least 700,000, the paper's head of sales Michel Delbort said. L'Equipe's average daily sale last year was 326,000 copies.

The paper is hoping for even better things should the French go on to retain their European title — 1.58 million copies were sold when they won the 1998 World Cup on home soil.

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Blistering barnacles: Even the treatment of blisters is being turned into an art at Euro 2004.

One day after Italian players were complaining about blisters from ill-fitting shoes and socks, foot specialist Christopher Hunt came up with some advice. ``What you really need are lace-up shoes, shoes that are held well on. You probably need absorbent cotton socks. Sports people are running very quickly and stopping very quickly. It's a shearing movement.''

On top of that, the heat at the tournament is making life even tougher for the players. ``Blisters are exacerbated by heat and swelling,'' he said.

Hunt ruled out one treatment. ``There are a number of chemical treatments to avoid blisters and one is natural '' he said. "The chemical is urea, a softening agent , but I wouldn't suggest that.''— Agencies

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