The Catalan secret behind the World Cup's opening match

BarcelonaThe duel between the national teams of Mexico and South Africa this Thursday (9 p.m., RTVE) at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City will kick off the World Cup. Millions of fans around the planet will follow the premier competition of national team football, which will extend until July 19 in the format with the most teams (48) in history. It will also be the World Cup played in the most stadiums: sixteen, the majority in the United States, although there will also be three venues in Mexico and two in Canada.

The legendary Azteca stadium, where it all begins, was the venue for the finals of the 1970 and 1986 World Cups, and has been remodeled to be a venue in a third World Cup. With a capacity of 83,000 spectators, it is one of the stadiums with the most history in football. In addition to the inaugural match, it will host Uzbekistan-Colombia, Mexico - Czech Republic in the group stage, and a round of 32 match. The most important part for the staging of the match, the pitch, has a distinct Catalan mark: it was installed by the company RoyalVerd.

"the name was not a very good marketing strategy internationally", jokes Rovira.

The call from ex-Madrid player Fernando HierroIn the late nineties, Morera –starting from the family business Grup Morera, specialized in a network of agro-businesses, among other ventures– was the main advisor for Barça –technicians and footballers increasingly valued the state of the pitch– and gradually became professionalized until founding, in 2003, RoyalVerd. They currently work with teams like Atlético de Madrid, Espanyol, and Girona, as well as with the Spanish Football Federation, in addition to expanding their business line internationally, with special attention to the North African markets and Mexican football. "When the company was born, putting the Catalan word green in the name was not a very good marketing strategy internationally", jokes Rovira.

The call from ex-Madrid player Fernando Hierro

That the pitch at the Azteca stadium has been installed by a Catalan company on the other side of the world also has to do with a former Real Madrid player. Fernando Hierro knew RoyalVerd from his time at the Spanish Football Federation, and when he was the sporting director of Mexican club Chivas, he put forward the company's name to solve the damaged grass of an emblematic venue in football history. "There were three years left until the World Cup began and we participated in the international tender to take charge of the pitch's rehabilitation, as well as its advice and maintenance. We competed against two other international companies, one Irish and one French, but our solutions convinced them. The language issue also helped us," recalls Rovira.

The secret of this company, born in La Garrotxa just over two decades ago, is, according to the general director, its "people": "From engineers and young talent to farmers." And he gives an example: one of the main people responsible for ensuring that the Azteca pitch is ready for the World Cup's opening match has been Joan Quirante, who "fresh out of the University of Girona, at 23 years old, has been in charge for the last nine months in Mexico of the technical coordination of the pitch installation and seeding project".

The pitch at the World Cup's opening venue features hybrid technology – like most major stadiums today – and a drainage system with 180-horsepower motors that suck up water if necessary. The Azteca's turf will be ready for the great planetary football tournament thanks to a company from La Garrotxa.