The France centre pretended to ground the ball before getting to his feet and heading nearer the posts, getting a clip from Gareth Williams for his cheek as he finally touched the ball to grass.

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So the players try to curve their drives, into the slope, to keep the ball on the short grass.

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To loosen up before starts, Bauer drifts back toward the right-field foul pole, where after taking a crow-hop, he sends the ball sailing across the grass to a teammate standing within a few feet of the left-field foul pole.

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The ball pounded off the grass and slipped over the fingertips of Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech and into the net for the decisive goal in Portugal's 1-0 win, sending Ronaldo sprinting into the arms of his teammates and over to the television cameras for a primal scream at close range.

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When a spinning ball hits a low friction surface such as grass, it will continue to spin.

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Does the smacking of a small ball straight down a well-mown stretch of grass really require special clothes?

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Some soccer teams wet the field before a match to make the ball roll faster, while baseball teams grow out grass to slow ground balls.

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