Avid gardeners will have been dismayed by reports about the state of the football pitch in Manaus for the England vs Italy game.
While the condition of the pitch, which appeared dry and rutted, can hardly be blamed for the England defeat, the groundsman responsible for the stadium admitted it was in "bad shape".
He could be forgiven, however, as Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and can only be reached by plane or boat. Heavy rain and algae problems added to the headache of trying to maintain the pitch.
Fortunately, the latest technology has helped to boost playing surfaces in other stadiums in Brazil.
A new system pioneered by Dutch company Dusso has been used to create greener, more resource-efficient pitches, BusinessGreen reports.
The Grass Master technology involves injecting around 20 million artificial turf fibres two centimetres apart into a natural grass pitch.
This creates a surface that can withstand four times more playing time than conventional turf and lasts for 15 years. All it requires is regular re-seeding – so there is no need for heavy machinery bringing in sods and maintenance activity is kept to a minimum.
The technology is environmentally friendly and contributes to a 'circular economy' – after 15 years the fibres are removed and remanufactured so they can be used again.
England's game against Uruguay will be easier for the team to play on than the opener against Italy, because Grass Master is used at the St George's Park training centre and Wembley installed the turf technology in 2010.
The system is being used in stadiums around the world and Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are among the firm's customers.
"We did Old Trafford last summer and we were supposed to do three more training pitches, but they said we have to wait for the new coach to approve it," chief executive Alexander Collot d'Escury Collot d'Escury said. "Now with van Gaal we got the confirmation it's OK. So we're very pleased."
