For researcher, World Cup is a grass-roots endeavor

Like most kids growing up in Brazil, Roberto Gurgel dreamed of being on the field for a World Cup.

That never happened. So this summer, Gurgel is settling for the next-best thing by helping to build five of the fields that will be used for the first World Cup in his native country in 64 years.

Gurgel is executive director of research for Sod Solutions, a South Carolina-based company that develops and licenses varieties of grass. One of those varieties, a deep blue-green Bermuda called Celebration, will be used in five of the 12 World Cup venues this summer.

Gurgel said the Maracana, the stadium in Rio de Janeiro that will play host to the final, as well as venues in Brasilia, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza, all have specific issues that required a unique turf like Celebration, which grows differently from most Bermuda.

"It has a very good ability to grow under a significant amount of shade," he said. "Celebration was selected for those stadiums because a lot of them have very tall structures and places for the fans that project a lot of shade on the grass."

The grass is also durable and recovers quickly but it doesn't do well in places like Sao Paulo, which is expected to be cool.

"There's a lot of science involved. It's kind of a tricky thing," said Gurgel, who has made several trips to the sod farm in Brazil where the grass is being grown, then visited again after the grass was installed ahead of last year's Confederations Cup.

He'll follow the World Cup on television, though, and admits he watches the games a little differently from most fans.

"I look more for the grass," he said. "I'm all the time hoping that the camera zooms in to the play so I can look at the grass and not so much at the players or the game. So yes, lately I cheer more for the grass than for the team itself."

Which isn't to say he doesn't have a favorite squad.

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For researcher, World Cup is a grass-roots endeavor