10-26-2006, 01:26 PM
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#24
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Practice Squad
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 481
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Re: Latest Rumor Update on the Grass/Field Turf Rumor
Apparently the use of FieldTurf for soccer is hugely controversial, with some players refusing to play on it. This article "Don't use artificial grass in Toronto FC stadium" was posted on an MLS board concerning Toronto, apparently an MLS expansion team. Three extracts illustrate the controversy:
Quote:
“It (FieldTurf) kills the culture of the game,” said Julian de Guzman of Toronto, a midfielder with Canada's World Cup team and Spanish First Division club Deportivo La Coruna. “This stadium is supposed to be our new icon for soccer in the country, and the approach seems to be very cheap. It is a step backward in my eyes.”
De Guzman's Canadian teammate, Tottenham Hotspur defender Paul Stalteri of Brampton, Ont., also gives the surface bad reviews.
“The best salesman in the world couldn't sell me on it [FieldTurf],” he said. “I hope in my career I never have to play on it.”
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Quote:
Charmaine Hooper of Ottawa, a veteran of Canada's national team, denied (chief operating officer Kevan) Pipe's claims of support from women players, saying she played on the surface last summer for the W-League's New Jersey Wildcats.
“I absolutely hate it,” said Hooper, 38. “These people who are passing or making it okay for us to play on these surfaces, they don't play on the stuff and they don't know. In general, most players don't like it.”
Hooper said her feet hurt after only a few days of playing on the surface. She said the surface soaks up heat, and the ball takes strange hops and doesn't run the same way as on real grass.
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Quote:
Toronto FC head coach Maurice Johnston hopes to recruit some of Canada's top players for his club, and is aware of concerns regarding the playing surface.
“Any player who doesn't want to play on FieldTurf is not someone who we would be interested in having on our team,” Johnston said through a team spokesman.
That won't sit well with many of the club's potential signings, including national team and Houston Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario of Toronto.
“I am definitely 100-per-cent pro grass,” De Rosario said. “If they get grass in there instead of an artificial surface, it would be easier to draw better players and teams from Europe to play exhibition games and the fans will respect the team.”
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Source:
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=416298
Last edited by lobster; 10-26-2006 at 01:26 PM..
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