World Cup 2014, Brazil

[torongill]

I do not know what you mean by American football lacking side ways movement,...

that level of sideways movement.

I've played both on old and new type of artificial turf as well as natural grass and for lower-level football modern level of artificial turf it is more than suitable. However, for the twists and turns at the speed that top level football requires the player's joints and ligaments would be much safer on a firm natural watered pitch.

As for natural grass being unsuitable for domes, that's why there are slide-out pitches.

[PikeStance]

that level of sideways movement.

I've played both on old and new type of artificial turf as well as natural grass and for lower-level football modern level of artificial turf it is more than suitable. However, for the twists and turns at the speed that top level football requires the player's joints and ligaments would be much safer on a firm natural watered pitch.

As for natural grass being unsuitable for domes, that's why there are slide-out pitches.

I have no idea what you are talking about??? My team, the New Orleans Saints play at least half their games in art. turf. (as well as the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, etc...). To my knowledge there is not an increase or a greater number of injuries related to the turf. I know there was a study that showed different types of injuries, but the same study showed that natural grass had its own types of injuries as well. In any event, most injuries in American football is attributed to increase muscle to body type ratio. In other words, muscles are stronger than the body can handle.

I am curious if you have any type pf study to support this or are you just making a wild speculation???

[I WUB PUGS]

"not that level of lateral movement"..................................... *glares*

Every offensive lineman in history would beg to differ. As for speed? Well any speed back will too. Not to mention the cuts made by wide receivers and defensive backs.

But we're getting away from the topic here.

The stuff is meant to be like grass. Unlike the turf you're thinking of this stuff has individual blades with a rubber pad and a sand infill. The reviews on this new turf have been stellar and they aren't just using it for american football. MLS teams have to play on it too if they're sharing the field with an NFL team. No injuries, more consistency in surfaces instead of needing to worry about who has a crap grounds keeper. Unlike grass it is also designed to drain immediately.......... that's a very big deal.

Now of course FIFA won't even consider this.....................................unless FieldTurf becomes a sponsor.

[Basil II the B.S]

I wouldn't call Belgium an underdog, Chile is unlikely unless they win their group (second probably faces Brazil), maybe an African country?

Belgium has a good team but hasn't performed well on international level in decades. As for Chile, you are right, but Brazil will be under pressure like noone else.

Pretty much every 4 years if Brazil doesn't win the world cup, it's almost a national tragedy and there's regularly people committing suicide over it. And now they are the host.

As for African countries, they normally lack the proper tactical organizationto go far. Seeing the groups the only one that can make it past them is Cote d'Ivoire. It's a possibility, but unlikely.

[torongill]

"not that level of lateral movement"..................................... *glares*

Every offensive lineman in history would beg to differ. As for speed? Well any speed back will too. Not to mention the cuts made by wide receivers and defensive backs.

But we're getting away from the topic here.

The stuff is meant to be like grass. Unlike the turf you're thinking of this stuff has individual blades with a rubber pad and a sand infill. The reviews on this new turf have been stellar and they aren't just using it for american football. MLS teams have to play on it too if they're sharing the field with an NFL team. No injuries, more consistency in surfaces instead of needing to worry about who has a crap grounds keeper. Unlike grass it is also designed to drain immediately.......... that's a very big deal.

Now of course FIFA won't even consider this.....................................unless FieldTurf becomes a sponsor.

Pugs, where I live now artificial turfs are the norm. The soil is sand and pulverized rock, any water is reclaimed from the sea or recycled. That makes natural grass pitches absolute terror to maintain. For normal football up to say Second Division artificial stuff is okay, but once you get to the level of Primera Division(I'm talking Barcelona, Real, Atletico, Sevilla, Valencia), you know that any costs saved up on the pitch come to bite you in the dressing room - and with a 25-man roster of which at any given moment you have 11 on the pitch the club will try to minimize injuries to the absolute minimum - especially considering that for many clubs their players are the main "liquid assets".

Here's the link that talks about ACL injuries being 88% higher on FieldTurf. These type of injuries may not be very common in American football, but as of this moment England and Arsenal are missing Theo Walcott, Colombia have given up on Falcao arriving for the World Cup, Barcelona and Spain have been robbed of Victor Valdes, Real Madrid and Germany lost Sami Khedira for the majority of the season and young hopefuls Jese Rodriguez and Jonathan Dos Santos both suffered season-ending injuries, all due to ruptured knee ligaments. That's not because of the natural grass, that's because of the fact that football players play huge amount of games and run a lot(up to 60 games per season, around 300 km on average, up to 360 km of running per season for some midfielders, compared to the 30 km average for American football players), so yeah, any type circumstance that may be increasing the levels of long-term injuries are to be avoided like hell.

In any case, I did not say that artificial turf is bad. It's quite good, up to a certain level. But I don't see it being used to the World's biggest football event, at least for the immediate future.

P.S. I wonder how far will Croatia and Cameroon go.

[Ybbon]

I like the pre-tournament entertainment of giving Blatter a kicking. If you ever needed proof that most of delegates are in his pocket is that they are willing to re-elect the bugger after he stated last time he would not run again and yet here he is aiming to run again, but maybe there is the shoots of a new era...

[PikeStance]

Here's the link that talks about ACL injuries being 88% higher on FieldTurf. These type of injuries may not be very common in American football,...

Did you actually read the article?
It doesn't say 88% at all.

The rate for the ankle sprains was 32 percent higher on FieldTurf than on grass. MCL injuries and a less serious type of ankle sprain also happened more frequently, but the difference was not statistically significant.

More over there were important details like this,...

Panel chairman Dr. Elliott Hershman, a Jets team orthopedist, said it's too soon to make any recommendations on what surface teams should choose. More research is needed on issues such as whether players are wearing the right types of shoes on artificial turf.
"At this point we want to stimulate more discussion," he said.


"The paper is designed to stimulate further discussion, inquiry, and improvements in playing surfaces," league spokesman Greg Aiello said. "It does not draw any conclusions about the cause of the injuries analyzed. Our panel states in the report that additional analyses, data from future NFL seasons, and studies of injury rates on synthetic turf and natural grass surfaces, including for other athletic populations and levels of football, are needed before any conclusions can be drawn or recommendations made."

The article makes a point that the findings are in dispute as well

FieldTurf president Eric Daliere argues that the panel's methods are faulty and cites research by Montana State professor Michael Meyers that has been published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Meyers' work, though, has only looked at high school and college football, and not the NFL. FieldTurf paid for Meyers' recent study that found lower overall injury rates for college games played on the surface.
"Michael Meyers has come to a very different conclusion on a different level and his is a real study, not just a report," Daliere said. "He mentions poorly designed [analyses] -- and this is the kind of work he does -- and that the statistical analysis by the [NFL] panel was also flawed.


Meyers said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that he told the NFL in 2008 "there are too many glaring omissions and biases in the study to reach any valid conclusions." He questioned why certain factors that could influence injury rates were not included and noted that some teams didn't play any games on FieldTurf during some of the seasons studied.

but as of this moment England and Arsenal are missing Theo Walcott, Colombia have given up on Falcao arriving for the World Cup, Barcelona and Spain have been robbed of Victor Valdes, Real Madrid and Germany lost Sami Khedira for the majority of the season and young hopefuls Jese Rodriguez and Jonathan Dos Santos both suffered season-ending injuries, all due to ruptured knee ligaments. That's not because of the natural grass, that's because of the fact that football players play huge amount of games and run a lot(up to 60 games per season, around 300 km on average, up to 360 km of running per season for some midfielders, compared to the 30 km average for American football players), so yeah, any type circumstance that may be increasing the levels of long-term injuries are to be avoided like hell.

You are ignoring the fact that lineman often have to pivot and move quickly and engaged other players putting pressure and stress on the body.

In any case, I did not say that artificial turf is bad. It's quite good, up to a certain level. But I don't see it being used to the World's biggest football event, at least for the immediate future.

The technology is still relatively new.

[torongill]

Did you actually read the article?
It doesn't say 88% at all.

Did YOU actually read the article?

The report examined the 2002-08 NFL seasons, comparing games played on grass to those on FieldTurf. It found that the rate of Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries was 88 percent higher in FieldTurf games -- a conclusion the manufacturer of the synthetic field hotly disputes.

As for the dispute, of course the manufacturer will say it's wrong and point out to a study his company paid for that says "Ev'rithng good in da hood". And like I said, the paid for report examined school and college games, for which, like I said, good artificial turf would be acceptable.

For highest level football, however, at least for now, natural grass is better.

[Halie Satanus]

Getting back on topic..

They'll be playing on grass in Brazil.

[Bazinga]

Will Falcao play ?

[Halie Satanus]

No he's out..

[torongill]

Will Falcao play ?

Falcao, Reus, Theo Walcott, Valdes, Vidal just appeared, Neymar scared the country the other day at training, Ronaldo just come back, Messi vomits before games, stadiums still work in progress, probably to be finished for Copa Libertadores...

I just hope the football will be worth it.

[Basileos Leandros I]

Despite all of the improvements in synthetic grass, you can't compare natural grass to synthetic. Playing football on a freshly cut terrain, a terrain that has seen plenty of sunlight and that has been taken care of, is unbeatable.

[Wulfburk]

Falcao, Reus, Theo Walcott, Valdes, Vidal just appeared, Neymar scared the country the other day at training, Ronaldo just come back, Messi vomits before games, stadiums still work in progress, probably to be finished for Copa Libertadores...

I just hope the football will be worth it.

57 players out because of injury, damn...

And to be fair, "only" 2 stadiums are still unfinished...

[Ybbon]

One man injured gives another a chance to shine. There might be some big names missing but there will still be stars come through anyway.

[Basil II the B.S]

though Falcao is a big hit for Colombia. Their team is good but they lose too much without him. They could have gone farther than Argentina.

[Cold_Mac]

Falcao, Reus, Theo Walcott, Valdes, Vidal just appeared, Neymar scared the country the other day at training, Ronaldo just come back, Messi vomits before games, stadiums still work in progress, probably to be finished for Copa Libertadores...

I just hope the football will be worth it.

Wouldn't hold my breath...

Chile FTW!

[Thorn777]

Despite all of the improvements in synthetic grass, you can't compare natural grass to synthetic. Playing football on a freshly cut terrain, a terrain that has seen plenty of sunlight and that has been taken care of, is unbeatable.

Synthetic pitches make for more bouncy play but suits more technical players who take care of the ball and dont go after slidings causing 3rd degree burns on your legs on such pitches.

But that. We got Footsal for that.

IDK whats wrong with the one dimensional people today, who can only value tricks and such. Its the same in the NBA with all the new rules, basically shunning all the raw manliness. Same would start once we all get synthetic grass everywhere.

But lots of tricks. Meh...

[Samraat Mahendra Maurya]

Why isn't there India, India will destroy everyone in cricket and what to speak of soccer, don't you guys remeber that match with India vs FC Barcelona, India won 8:0

[Halie Satanus]

Any team would miss Falcao but Colombia still have Jackson Martinez - 60 goals in 91 games is impressive by any standard..