WORKERS at the Arena Amazonia in Brazil, which will host a blockbuster World Cup game between England and Italy on Sunday morning (AEST), have spray painted the field green to make it seem better prepared.

Yesterday, we reported that the pitch in Manaus was looking patchy, sandy and bone dry, with visible brown stripes. The field’s groundsman, Carlos Botella, admitted it was in “bad shape”.

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“Frankly, Manaus is in bad shape,” Mr Botella told AP.

“We’ve started to implement an emergency plan to try to save the field and improve it as much as possible, but I don’t think it’ll be in good condition by the weekend.

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“Yesterday we put fertiliser, and we’ll increase the fertilising process with biostimulants and seeds to try to get the most out of the grass.”

Apparently, Mr Botella’s “emergency plan” also involves spraying the pitch with green paint. BBC Sport journalists Phil McNulty and Natalie Pirks, who are based in Manaus to cover England’s matches, witnessed the miraculous transformation.

So there's a reason the pitch here in Manaus has looked much better today. They're spraying it with paint @BBCSport — Natalie Pirks (@Natpirks) June 12, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: So there's a reason the pitch here in Manaus has looked much better today. They're spraying it with paint @BBCSport— Natalie Pirks (@Natpirks) June 12, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: So there's a reason the pitch here in Manaus has looked much better today. They're spraying it with paint @BBCSport— Natalie Pirks (@Natpirks) June 12, 2014

The pitch in Manaus. Very patchy in parts & green spray has been applied. Should be better for such an important game pic.twitter.com/bwPyvqZwTl — Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) June 12, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: The pitch in Manaus. Very patchy in parts & green spray has been applied. Should be better for such an important game pic.twitter.com/bwPyvqZwTl— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) June 12, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: The pitch in Manaus. Very patchy in parts & green spray has been applied. Should be better for such an important game pic.twitter.com/bwPyvqZwTl— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) June 12, 2014

So, to summarise, the Manaus pitch is still horrendously underprepared, but now it is at least kind of the right colour.

In truth, the Arena Amazonia has even bigger problems. Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Its local football team plays in Brazil’s fourth division, and draws an average crowd of less than 5,000.

So, how will Manaus make use of the 46,000 seat stadium after the World Cup? Nobody knows. Brazil has spent $300 million building a stadium that might only be used for four games.