I'm sure these questions have been answered 100 times, but please indulge me.. Is the Linc field big enough to actually hold FIFA sanctioned matches? I've heard both yes and no.. What happened to all the friendlies we were getting 3-4 years ago?.. I realize the company who organized the ManUtd, Celtic, etc. friendlies has gone belly-up, but the Linc isn't being used from Feb-August..
Thanks to Jeff Lurie from what we understand. You know how those heavy, overweight soccer players ruin grass.
Too bad... Sir Alex 'whiskey nose' Ferguson said the Linc was one of the finest pitches he's ever seen.
It was an amazing pitch before the first pointyball game. I wanted to run out there and roll around naked it looked so good. Guessing from the pointyball markings, a 110yd pitch cannot be more than 60-65 yds wide. The corners, and more importantly, the skirt around the pitch, pinches in around the end zones limiting width. OTOH, a 100 yd pitch might be 70yds wide.
I was at the Dallas game last season (incredible by the way) and the pitch looked like total shit. The need to do some hardcore work on that turf.
The correct assumption is that it is way too narrow in the corners. How to tell, when you're at a match look to see where the 10 yd. hash is from the corner and how close to the edge of the penalty box it is. the penalty box is 44 yds. wide so if the hash is close to that then your pitch is 65 to 66 yards wide, no matter how match promoters exaggerate that.
According to the FIFA Laws of the Game (http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/lotg2006_e_1581.pdf), the Linc is actually too small for official international matches but is appropriate for domestic (MLS) or unofficial events (promo or friendlies). And why have the friendlies stopped? No idea, except Lurries/Eagles/Linc have made it clear that they don't think much of soccer. Does that answer your question Dynamo Kev?
If you check out the FIFA rulebook link I provided, you will indeed find out that according to their own rules, the WWC should NOT have been played there. So that must tell you something about either FIFA's opinion of the WWC or of their own rules.