TORONTO, Ontario, May 1, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- A sellout crowd and a thrilling game led to a near-perfect debut for Major League Soccer in Toronto on Saturday. Eddie Johnson's goal in the 81st minute gave the Kansas City Wizards a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC (TFC) in front of the energetic and enthusiastic faithful at BMO Field.
A brisk afternoon did not stop the crowd of 20,158 from welcoming Major League Soccer to Toronto. After starting their MLS tenure with three road games, Toronto FC was clearly excited by the BMO Field atmosphere and responded with the strongest first half of their brief history. The players and coaches from both teams had nothing but praise for the FieldTurf at Canada's first professional soccer-specific stadium.
"Overall, I was impressed by the turf today," said Jimmy Conrad, defender, Kansas City Wizards and U.S. National Team defender. "As far as turf goes, it's the best that I've played on."
"It's the first time I've ever worn studs on an artificial field," proclaimed Kerry Zavagnin, midfielder, Kansas City Wizards and U.S. National Team defender. "So this should tell you something. It felt very similar to real grass and played very well."
The FieldTurf system has been proven to provide the same amount of energy restitution as good natural grass. Athletes from all over the globe have continuously stated that it is much more pleasant to play on FieldTurf because it increases shock absorbency, provides a solid, grass-like "artificial earth" for proper bio-mechanics and safety, and delivers grass-like energy restitution so players do not tire or adjust their playing styles. Coupled with its revolutionary monofilament fiber technology, the FieldTurf product provides ideal ball bounce and ball roll properties, giving it a reputation as the industry's premier specialized soccer surface. With FieldTurf, a through-ball settles down like it would on natural grass instead of running away from the player.
"It (the FieldTurf) surprised me how good it was," said Peter Vermes, technical director, Kansas City Wizards, and former U.S. National Team forward. "I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. I liked it a lot."
"FieldTurf is great," stated Mo Johnston, head coach, Toronto FC. "We are very fortunate to have this beautiful stadium and a consistent, true surface to go along with it."
The spectacular BMO Field Complex, along with its state-of-the-art FieldTurf system, did not go unnoticed by the abundance of media at the TFC home opener. The turf at BMO Field will serve as a permanent home for Toronto FC and the Canadian National team while also being accessible to community youth and adult soccer leagues. The Canadian Men's National team will hold its ceremonial inaugural game at BMO Field versus the Argentinian National team on May 11, in conjunction with the CONCACAF congress. BMO Field will also play host to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup Championship in July 2007, an event that will garner an audience of more than 600 million worldwide. The FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 marks the first time in its history that FIFA has designated its second most important event, after the FIFA World Cup, to be played on artificial grass -- and with good reason.
"The telling sign for me regarding the FieldTurf was the 40-yard diagonal ball played over the top of the defense and the ball checked up to the wide midfielder running onto the ball," explained Marcelo Balboa, television analyst for HDNet, and former U.S. National Team defender. "On all other turfs that I've seen, this ball would have skipped out of bounds and it would have been a throw-in going the other way."
"As far as I'm concerned this is as close to natural grass as you can get," declared Craig Forrest, television analyst for Sportsnet Connected, and former Canadian National Team goalkeeper.
Toronto FC has become the 7th North American professional soccer team to play their home games on FieldTurf. They join the New York Red Bulls (MLS), New England Revolution (MLS), Real Salt Lake (MLS), Seattle Sounders (USL), Rochester Rhinos (USL), and Atlanta Silverbacks (USL). FieldTurf has taken the world of soccer by storm with over 1,500 organizations now being equipped to play soccer matches on the FieldTurf system. Of note, Arsenal, Chelsea, the Glasgow Rangers, FC Torpedo, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa FC, and Barcelona FC, either play or practice on FieldTurf. Other prominent FieldTurf installations in Canada include Molson Stadium, the Rogers Centre, BC Place Stadium, McMahon Stadium, and Mosaic Stadium, to name a few.
FieldTurf was the very first artificial surface to attain FIFA Recommended status due to its superior grass-like performance, which soccer players prefer. FieldTurf was the 1st artificial pitch to host a UEFA Cup Qualifying Round (Torpedo, Moscow); and the 1st to host a FIFA Soccer Tournament (Jeux de la Francophonie). FieldTurf has passed the international governing body's most stringent testing and has more FIFA Recommended pitches than anyone else. FieldTurf is also UEFA Certified. For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.fieldturf.com