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SPORTS> Feature and Column
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Soccer-Germans get over defeat on grass to Dutch
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-05-19 16:26 BERLIN, May 19 - Grass from the Netherlands always had a special significance for those Germans who ventured across the border to Amsterdam and other Dutch towns in search of coffee shops where marijuana was a featured item on the menu. "Dutch grass" took on a new meaning in the country hosting the soccer World Cup, however, when a company from the Netherlands won the contract to lay the turf for seven of the 12 venues for the tournament that begins on June 9. German national pride suffered a blow when it was announced more than a year ago that the honour of laying the grass in the stadiums had gone to their bitter, long-time soccer rivals. In difficult economic times when many German companies are moving their factories to countries with lower wages, the news that even the job to supply grass for their World Cup was being outsourced abroad was a major defeat. "It's no joke!" wrote Germany's best-selling Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "We're aghast! Our arch football enemy Holland is delivering the turf to Germany for the World Cup! A cheap Dutch supplier!" Tensions subsided, however, as details emerged of the Dutch firm's expertise in grass cultivation and news came out that a German firm would lay the turf at the five other venues. The bill for the 8,000 square metres of turf needed for each venue, delivered on 20 trucks, is about 120,000 euros ($155,000). An extra 800 square metres per site is being stored in reserve. "We're all proud to be part of such an extraordinary project," said Thomas Buechner, director of Buechner Fertigrasen in the western German town of Alsbach-Haehnlein. THREE DAYS His company has been laying the grass -- delivered in 18-metre long, 1.2-metre wide and 35-mm thick strips weighing 400 kg each -- in the five southern venues: Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern. They need about three days per venue and must be finished by next Wednesday to give ample time for the grass to take root. |
