Russia’s World Cup opener kicked off at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on the evening of the 14th of June 2018. With Juba scored twice from the bench and goals from Gazinski, Cherishev, and Golovin, the hosts Russia defeated Saudi Arabia 5-0 and won a good start.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held on artificial turf pitches in 11 cities in Russia. Most of the football players who can enter the World Cup are from strong football clubs. They often don’t hesitate to spend money to prepare well-maintained high-quality natural turf pitches for their football stars. For those who have adapted to play in these venues, the artificial turf pitch is indeed a big test.
Everyone knows that Russia is 4000 kilometers wide from north to south and spans 4 climatic zones. Most of the Russian territory is in the northern temperate zone, with diverse climates, mainly temperate continental climate. However, the climate north of the Arctic Circle belongs to the cold zone. The temperature difference is generally large, the average temperature in January is -18℃~-10℃, and the average temperature in July is 11-27℃. The village of Oymyakon in northeastern Russia is one of the coldest settlements in the world, with an average temperature of -50°C in January and a historical low of -71.2°C. In such a cold country, natural grasses are difficult to survive, and planting costs and maintenance costs are quite high. Therefore, in Russia, most football fields use artificial turf.
For a long time, football players and coaches have argued that playing games or training on artificial turf is more likely to cause players to be injured. However, the development of modern technology has enabled artificial turf to be used in more public pitches and professional clubs, but the debate about whether artificial turf will increase the chance of injury continues.
Studies have shown that artificial turf has some key properties that help reduce the stress on knees. This is no doubt, especially with some that are dry and hard, often accompanied by grooves and local baldness from the natural turf.
Another key point is that training and competition on artificial turf will be different, mainly in the speed of the ball, and the track of the ball rolling will change more. Therefore, players tend to take less aggressive defensive actions, such as less sliding tackles. No matter what kind of turf, this will definitely reduce the chances of players getting injured.
Finally, the players themselves have an inherent prejudice against playing on artificial turf. They often feel that playing on artificial turf will be more fatigued, and more technical requirements. This may be because the pace of football games is faster, or they often compete on soft natural turf. However, we are not sure whether this concept of them is correct, but in fact the feeling of fatigue and the pace of the game are related to the strategies adopted by the players in the game.
