Libonati assures Ronaldo soft landing at Sam Boyd

When the guys on the sprinklers weren't looking Monday, I sneaked onto the new soccer field at Sam Boyd Stadium, where Cristiano Ronaldo will be taking corner kicks and faking injuries in the 18-yard box for Real Madrid against Club Santos Laguna of Mexico on Sunday night in the inaugural World Football Challenge.

It felt to my feet how a Sealy Posturepedic must feel to someone with a bad back. It was like walking on marshmallows.

I think Ronaldo and Real Madrid are going to like Daren Libonati Pitch at Sam Boyd Stadium.

That's not the actual name of the temporary natural playing surface though it is Libonati (and his promotional company, Justice Entertainment Group) who is staking his reputation on Las Vegas' ability to support world-class soccer. Unlike his U2 concerts and Supercross races, there are no blueprints to work from, only hoops to jump through.

The playing field was the biggest hoop.

"Once we engaged Real Madrid, the one thing that has kept me up at night is what you are looking at today," Libonati said.

It was Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager of Portuguese descent and massive repute, who insisted the friendly - which is what they call preseason games in soccer - be played on real grass.

FieldTurf might be suitable for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer. It is not suitable for Real Madrid, of La Liga in Spain, one the world's foremost soccer sides.

To paraphrase what Richie Allen, the former baseball slugger, said about AstroTurf: If a horse can't eat it, then Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka and Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil and Iker Casillas won't play on it.

So on July 12, 95,000 square feet of heavily fertilized soccer field were transported from a sod farm in Pahrump to Sam Boyd and rolled out in thick, spongy strips.        

"Inch and a quarter," Libonati said. "You don't buy this stuff at the local Star Nursery."

Libonati wouldn't say how much it cost. A good guess would be three numbers followed by a comma and three zeroes. Or as they say up and down the Gran Via, a Cristiano Ronaldo tip.

If the playing surface was the biggest concern going in, now it's mostly selling tickets.

Before Juventus of Italy pulled out and more than 4,000 tickets were refunded, it appeared the game might sell out. Now it appears Libonati might have to bend it like Beckham to get there.

He said around 22,000 tickets are spoken for (with room for 36,000), and that he has been told the local Spanish-speaking community will wait until the teams are warming up before purchasing tickets. And that $71 isn't too much to ask for one, because Spanish-speaking people pay that much to go to a dance.

Still, he said the ticket windows will open at noon on Sunday, just in case there are early arrivals.

If the stadium fills up, Libonati said it will open the door for other international soccer extravaganzas. And if they aren't filled and Las Vegas is shown the yellow card? Well, there's always the L.A. Galaxy and Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City. And the Columbus Crew.

"We need to have the seats filled," Libonati said. "We need to have these people say, 'Oh my God, Las Vegas cares about the world's sport.' "

Libonati says he cares about the world's sport. He also cares about making a buck. But he mostly cares about the world's sport, ever since he saw Manchester United play at Old Trafford in England last year. He has felt the passion.

So on Sunday, he piled into an SUV with six others, "guerrilla warfare style," as he put it, to drive to Los Angeles at 5:30 a.m. - and return at 1:30 a.m. Monday - just to say hello to Cristiano Ronaldo, and to tell Jose Mourinho that his grass soccer pitch would not be requiring an infusion of Scotts Turf Builder.  

As we walked from it Monday, Libonati noticed a 14-inch step-down from the dressing room area to field level and an exposed grate. He quickly called over a supervisor, asking that a step be built and another red carpet be rolled out over that grate.

The last thing Daren Libonati needs at this point is for Cristiano Ronaldo to turn an ankle.          

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.