Open this photo in gallery:
Workers tend to the pitch during group D World Cup soccer action between Australia and Turkey, in Vancouver on Saturday.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
The grass playing field at BC Place has passed muster with some of the world’s top soccer players.
The temporary playing surface saw its first FIFA World Cup action on Saturday as Australia beat Turkey 2-0 in the first game ever held in Vancouver.
“The pitch was great quality tonight, especially when it was nice and wet. The ball was rolling really well,” said Patrick Beach, Australia’s starting goalkeeper.
“I think the stadium is very, very nice and unbelievable. I think when the boys, all of us, came out yesterday, once we landed and we had a pitch inspection … everyone was buzzing, they loved it, thought it was pretty cool.”
The neat stripes of green grass held up under hard tackles, sudden stops and a lengthy knee slide by midfielder Connor Metcalfe when he scored to double the Socceroos’ lead in the 75th minute.
A team of 10 workers ensured the field got any necessary maintenance, inspecting it both after warm-ups and at halftime, and using instruments that looked like small pitchforks to address any inconsistencies. Sprinklers rehydrated the surface at both intervals.
“The quality of the stadium was very nice, the pitch was very good, in the perfect condition,” said Turkey’s captain, midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. “It was nice to play on.”
Australia’s Paul Okon-Engstler called the playing surface “very good” and “very nice,” but had one critique.
“Obviously, I think it dries up in parts of the game,” said the midfielder. “But overall, I think it was a great field to play on, and obviously a great stadium.”
Viral video of soccer grass with no bounce misleads World Cup fans
The temporary natural grass was part of a $196-million facelift to the stadium ahead of the tournament.
The playing surface was installed over several weeks, starting at the end of April.
It sits atop the stadium’s existing artificial turf and is supported by specialized irrigation, ventilation, vacuum, and UV-light systems to keep it growing.
Harvested from a sod farm in the nearby Fraser Valley, the grass is a mixture of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass. Turf experts picked that particular combination to create a durable playing surface that would be consistent across all 16 venues hosting games in the tournament.
Open this photo in gallery:
A sea of Australia fans cheer from the stands during second half group D World Cup soccer action against Turkey, in Vancouver on SaturdayEthan Cairns/The Canadian Press
Australian midfielder Aiden O’Neill played at BC Place back in April when his Major League Soccer team, New York City FC, visited the Vancouver Whitecaps, and called the World Cup playing surface “unbelievable.”
“I think they’ve done such a good job to have it in the condition that it’s in. And I think it’ll stay like that for the rest of the tournament,” he said.
“The ball moved well; it wasn’t too hard or too soft. So, I think they’ve got it perfect, to be honest.”
Vancouver is staging seven World Cup games, including five group-stage matches, a round-of-32 matchup and a round-of-16 bout.
Canada is slated to play two of its group-stage bouts at BC Place, starting on Wednesday when they take on Qatar. The co-host nation will wrap up round-robin play in Vancouver against Switzerland on June 24.
The stands are likely to be packed with Canadian fans for those matchups, but O’Neill and his teammates appreciated the presence of several thousand Australian fans in the announced crowd of 52,497 on Saturday night.
Seeing them wear the nation’s jersey and hear them sing along to the country’s national anthem, “Advance Australia Fair,” before the game was a memorable moment, he said.
“It was unbelievable,” O’Neill said. “To have so many Aussies here was something really special. And when the anthem was sung, that’s something I won’t forget for the rest of my life.”
