BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

Paying a heavy penalty?

Phil Gordos
14 Jun 08, 10:15 AM

Vienna

There is at least one man in Austria who hopes the fate of the Henri Delaunay Trophy isn't decided by penalties.

J. Alexander Richter's company is responsible for laying the turf at the Ernst Happel Stadium, the venue for the final of Euro 2008.

So far, the pitch is holding up very well, but Richter is not counting his chickens yet. After all, it was grass provided by his firm that cut up at just the wrong moment in Moscow. Remember John Terry's penalty miss in the Champions League final?

Vienna-born Richter, a board member of the International Turfgrass Society (yep, there is such a thing), has double cause for concern ahead of the 29 June finale in Vienna.

Not only is national pride at stake, but he is apparently busy negotiating a contract with moneybags Chelsea to provide the turf at Stamford Bridge.

Another slip could be very costly indeed...

For the record, Richter's company has provided the grass for pitches at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) in Milan and the Stadio della Alpi in Turin.

A square metre of the luscious green stuff can cost as much as 20 euros - and you need 7,500-8,000 of them.

So I'm not expecting to see any trucks from Austria heading for my local Beckenham Town this summer.

Phil Gordos is a senior broadcast journalist at BBC Sport Interactive. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

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Comments

1. At 1:31pm on 14 Jun 2008, littlemarkturner wrote:
beckenham town are well good!
there pitch looke well good from my house.
good article mate

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2. At 1:42pm on 14 Jun 2008, turbo_no1 wrote:
Did no one else notice that John Terry's slip during his penalty miss was not down to the turf?? If you watch him as he runs up to take it he puts his standing left foot far too far ahead of the ball, making it impossible for him to remain balanced when he strikes the ball with his right foot. The reason he missed the penalty is because of this, not the turf. There were a total of 14 penalties taken that night and no one else came close to slipping...

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3. At 1:44pm on 14 Jun 2008, The Midland 20 wrote:

Is this an advert for a Turf Company?

It sure ain't got much to do with football.

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4. At 2:14pm on 14 Jun 2008, lordmickeyboy wrote:
JT slip! No way, the big dope just missed it. I didn't see anybody else slip up

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5. At 3:41pm on 14 Jun 2008, Ranbir wrote:
Brilliant. A surface isn't slippery unless everyone slips on it.

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6. At 4:14pm on 14 Jun 2008, ASFASF wrote:
Define "wrong moment" for the grass to give way.... I reckon half the people watching felt it was exactly the right time....

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7. At 5:27pm on 14 Jun 2008, russimp wrote:
Terry's technique was poor, considering the conditions. Could have slipped on any surface!

Is anyone else now thinking of getting Serie A/Champs League Final quality turf in there back Garden?? I reckon I could get mine done for under two grand!!

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8. At 04:13am on 15 Jun 2008, quickquip wrote:
You're kidding, Chelsea didn't break off the negotiations after what happened to their captain. Still not exactly clear though on what the relationship is between Austrian national pride and Stamford Bridge, other than money which sadly seems to be the motive behind much in modern football. You can't help but wonder how the greats of the past ever got along without 150,000 euros pitches. Apparently, this bloke Richter is at least as much of a marketing genius as he is a turfgrass expert.

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9. At 05:53am on 15 Jun 2008, Wolves45 wrote:
How does Richter manage to lay turf and measure the scale of earthquakes? A busy man indeed.

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