The Argentine national team hit the Mercedes-Benz Stadium pitch for the opening match of the 2024 Copa América, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez calling the newly installed grass surface a “disaster” and coach Lionel Scaloni saying it was “better if we won “. “
“The state of the pitch was a disaster. Very bumpy. We have to improve in this aspect, otherwise the Copa América will always appear at a lower level than the Euro Cup,” said the Aston Villa goalkeeper.
The Albiceleste triumphed 2-0 over Canada on Thursday night when goals from Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez secured the team's first place in the Group A standings. But manager Lionel Scaloni used the victory as an opportunity to denounce the conditions in the home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons (a synthetic surface that was covered with natural grass two days ago) and criticize the organization's poor planning.
“The game was like Saudi Arabia in the World Cup, except that one had a good field,” Scaloni said, referring to his team's opening defeat in Qatar in 2022. “We had better win, otherwise it would have appeared like an excuse, but they knew seven months ago that we would play here and they changed the field two days ago. It is not an excuse, but this is not a good field. Honestly, the field is not suitable for these players.
“We didn't necessarily play a good game, but we played a game according to the field and what the opponent was proposing. We couldn't do much more with the conditions of the field. Look at the speed of the passes we made.”
In addition to the Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is also the home of Atlanta United FC of the MLS; Both teams play on artificial surface. At the request of Conmebol, the stadium laid grass for the tournament in recent days.
When Atlanta United faced the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, June 15, the venue still had an artificial surface.
“Two days ago it was fake and then they dried grass panels together. It's painted to make it look better than it is,” Scaloni said. “The strange thing is that we knew months ago that we would be playing here, so maybe things could have been done about the field faster.”
Argentina's next match in Group A is a match against Chile at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on June 25 before finishing round-robin play against Peru on June 29.
