SOCCER-SLIPPERY FRANKFURT PITCH WON'T AFFECT PERFORMANCE, GERMANY'S PLAYERS SAY
HERZOGENAURACH, Germany (Reuters) - The slippery pitch in the Frankfurt Arena where Germany take on Switzerland in their final Group A game on Sunday will have little impact on the hosts' performance as they look to lock in top spot in the group, German players said on Friday.
Germany, who have won both their group matches so far against Scotland and Hungary, will secure first place with a draw or a win but they will have to do it on the Frankfurt surface, notorious for being slippery and breaking into clumps quickly.
The quality of the pitch was evident in Thursday's 1-1 draw between England and Denmark with both teams' players repeatedly slipping as chunks of the grass broke clear.
England's Kyle Walker changed his boots early on in the game after slipping.
"I have played on that pitch a few times," said Germany midfielder Chris Fuehrich. "It is extremely soapy, it breaks up quickly and gets destroyed quickly."
"It loses its grip a bit but I don't know why that is happening but it has happened quite a few times, that it was not so solid and that the players had problems."
Germany require at least a draw against the Swiss in order to avoid finishing second in the group and having to play the second-placed team from Group B.
That could lead to a tricky round-of-16 match against a team from the group featuring Italy, Spain, Croatia and Albania.
Switzerland will top the group with a win but will also advance with a draw if Scotland fail to beat Hungary in the other group match. Defeat could potentially see them exit the tournament.
"There a still a few days left so maybe the pitch will improve until then," said Germany forward Deniz Undav.
"But you have to be able to adapt to the conditions. At the end of the day we want to win on Sunday. So whether we play on grass or stones we have to win," he said.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; additional reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Chopra)
2024-06-21T14:46:47Z dg43tfdfdgfd
