All posts tagged: Grass

Why MetLife Stadium’s grass is threatening Argentina vs Spain World Cup Final

Why MetLife Stadium’s grass is threatening Argentina vs Spain World Cup Final

Published by Webster

4 min readUpdated: Jul 17, 2026 03:05 PM IST The 2026 FIFA World Cup final has set up a stellar clash of continents and contrasts on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — the best of Europe, Spain, taking on Argentina, the defending champions from South America. For the first time in history, the reigning European and Copa America winners are going up against each other in a World Cup final. While there are interesting subplots within the summit clash featuring Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, and others, there is an unlikely threat that is challenging their dominance – the very grass on which the ball will roll for at least 90 minutes on Sunday. ALSO READ | Enzo Fernandez begged Messi to stay in 2016. Now he carries him Why has FIFA’s MetLife Stadium pitch raised concerns? Brazil and Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior called it dry. France midfielder Adrian Rabiot even wondered if one could label it a “pitch”. Rabiot’s coach Didier Deschamps certainly thought the grass at the MetLife Stadium was …

A university near Boston that nailed the quality of grass

A university near Boston that nailed the quality of grass

Published by Webster

Written by: Express News Service 3 min readUpdated: May 22, 2026 04:00 PM IST The large football field of Bentley Falcons has a giant manual scoreboard that keeps track of ‘soccer style’ offensive and defensive demarcations, as it registers goals scored and goals saved. But it’s the grass beneath the feet that earned Bentley University the right to welcome the French national football team, l’Équipe de France de Football, on June 11. Chosen as the campus for the official Team Base Camp Training Site for the FIFA World Cup 2026, the incoming French will put both Bentley and the city of Waltham on the global sports map. Its proximity to Foxborough, Massachusetts, where games will be played, put the town near Boston in prime position as did the top-quality athletic fields and modern workout facilities. Boasting of true grass in Boston, Bentley was approved by Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, Didier Deschamps, head coach of the French national team, who will be looking for a win after losing out unfortunately to the …

How the University of Tennessee’s agricultural college is helping FIFA bring consistency to grass on football World Cup pitches?

How the University of Tennessee’s agricultural college is helping FIFA bring consistency to grass on football World Cup pitches?

Published by Webster

4 min readApr 26, 2026 08:38 PM IST More Americans get screaming notices for unsatisfactorily mowed front lawns than parking tickets. They may not be batshit crazy about football or soccer, but Americans can get ridiculously pedantic and particular about their front yard grass or turf lawns. So when FIFA faced a knotty issue – eight of the sixteen stadiums hosting the World Cup were designed for artificial turf—and FIFA only used natural turf, USA’s ace grass experts were summoned. The University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville’s world-renowned turfgrass experts led a first-of-its-kind research collaboration with Michigan State University and FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, to set up the pitches. While the uneven bounce at Pan-Am drew criticism, the UT were confronted with the eventual question. “How can a soccer ball bounce the same on a pitch in Vancouver, Canada, and in Mexico City?” the UT website writes. So through a five-year research project, UT’s expert turfgrass team developed turfgrass systems along with irrigation, maintenance, and testing methods to produce identical pitches that were …

Italy to host a Wimbledon tuneup on grass starting in 2028 which could be played on the San Siro field

Italy to host a Wimbledon tuneup on grass starting in 2028 which could be played on the San Siro field

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Apr 15, 2026 01:33 AM IST The ATP Finals. The Davis Cup Finals. And now a Wimbledon tuneup on grass courts that could be played on the soccer pitch inside Milan’s San Siro stadium. Led by top-ranked Jannik Sinner, who won Wimbledon last year, the Italian tennis movement keeps on adding new events. The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation has purchased the rights for a 250-level ATP Tour tournament in Brussels that is held in October, federation president Angelo Binaghi announced Tuesday. The event will be held each June starting in 2028. “There’s still time to decide where to play it,” Binaghi said. “For climate reasons, it will probably be held in northern Italy.” Binaghi noted that the Madrid Open is introducing practice courts inside Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium, so the San Siro could be an option: “For once, we wouldn’t be the first to do it.” Italy previously hosted a WTA tournament on grass in Gaiba from 2022-24. The federation is also hosting the ATP Finals, currently in Turin, through …

The pitch had too much grass on it and failed the standard expected for a five-day Test: Geoffrey Boycott | Cricket News

The pitch had too much grass on it and failed the standard expected for a five-day Test: Geoffrey Boycott | Cricket News

Published by Webster

The fourth Test between Australia and England at the MCG finished in a couple of days. The wicket had plenty of grass on it, and the seamers could extract a lot out of the pitch, moving the ball both ways, making it impossible for the batters to score big runs. As a result, batters too started to play their shots, worried about that magic delivery that would come their way. Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott was critical of the MCG curator. “The pitch had too much grass on it and failed the standard expected for a five-day Test. Batting became a lottery and all the seam bowlers had to do was get the ball straight, on a full length and let that pitch do the rest for them,” Boycott wrote in his column in The Telegraph. “That is not good enough and the curator should be held to account by his bosses. No excuses are acceptable. Talk of him being worried about the very hot weather later in the Test will not wash, as it …

Dry grass catches fire on Willingdon Island

Dry grass catches fire on Willingdon Island

Published by Parlour News

Fire and Rescue Services and Port Trust personnel trying to douse the fire at a vacant plot near Kannangattu Bridge on Willingdon Island on February 27. | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin Dry grass and waste across a wide expanse along Alexander Parambithara bridge on Willingdon Island allegedly caught fire around 1.30 p.m. on Thursday (February 27, 2025). Fire and Rescue Services personnel reportedly took around four hours to douse it completely. According to sources, a 5-km stretch was affected. Published – February 28, 2025 01:07 am IST Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: Source link

Pat Cummins on MCG pitch for Boxing Day Test: ‘There’s a bit of grass coverage, feels nice and firm’ | Cricket News

Pat Cummins on MCG pitch for Boxing Day Test: ‘There’s a bit of grass coverage, feels nice and firm’ | Cricket News

Published by Webster

With the series hanging in balance, the spotlight has been on the pitch at the MCG ahead of the Boxing Day Test match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While the series has seen the pace bowlers dominating the series with spinners only getting six wickets out of the total 93 wickets to fall so far in the series so far, the MCG pitch too is expected to support pace and bounce. Australian skipper Pat Cummins feels the MCG pitch is ‘nice and firm’. “The pitch looks really good. (It is) quite consistent to what it has been here for the last few years. (There is a) bit of grass coverage and it feels nice and firm. They’ve done a great job here for … probably the last five to six years with their pitches and I suspect (it will be) the same this year. (But we will see) how the heat changes it. We’ll get to the ground tomorrow and kind of assess it, but it looks like it is a good wicket,” said Cummins while …

Grass Patches Cut, Fans To Dry Outfield: Bizarre Scenes In Afghanistan vs New Zealand Noida Test

Published by Webster

Visuals from Greater Noida Stadium© X (Twitter) The Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test has been a total disaster so far. Despite there being minimum rain, no play has been possible for 4 sessions in the historic Test, courtesy of poor drainage and outfield conditions at the venue. Not a single ball was possible on the opening day of the match, resulting in a complete washout. On Day 2, the match couldn’t start at the scheduled time either as the outfield was still wet. Rain did come down on Day 1 in the evening for some time but since then, there has been no precipitation at the venue. Yet, the groundsmen couldn’t get the field ready for play. On Day 2, some bizarre visuals unfolded as the ground staff was seen cutting grass patches from different areas on the field and transporting it to the wet area. Not just that, even fans were used to dry the wet patches on the field. About 20-25 people were given the job to dry the ground, …

Emma Raducanu Pulls Out Of French Open Qualifying To Train On Grass

Published by Webster

Emma Raducanu in action© AFP Former US Open winner Emma Raducanu is likely to miss the French Open at Roland Garros after withdrawing from this week’s qualifying tournament. While the Briton is a third alternate for the main draw, successfully coming through qualifying, which starts on Monday, would have offered her a guaranteed route to the main draw. Her name, however, did not appear among the qualifiers listed Sunday on the Roland Garros website. The 21-year-old won the US Open title in 2021 but has since suffered from regular injury problems and is now ranked 212 in the world. “It’s important for me to keep laying on the foundations and I will use the time to do a healthy block before the grass and subsequent hard court seasons to give myself a chance to keep fit for the rest of the year,” Raducanu said Sunday in a statement quoted by British media.  Her only appearance on the red clay in Paris was in 2022 when, seeded 12th, she lost in three sets …