Argentina defeated Canada in their debut in the 2024 Copa América, but not everything was ‘smooth’.
The players and coaching staff of the ‘Albiceleste’ were upset by the conditions of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium grass.
As soon as the match ended, Emiliano Martínez was forceful:
“The court was a disaster, they put bread on top of a synthetic, it looked like a trampoline every time we received the ball. There you realize that they put us on the path and we are a team that goes, goes and goes. We have to improve that aspect or else the Copa América will always be one level below the Euro Cup.”
‘Dibu’ was not the only footballer who expressed his opinion. Lionel Messi acknowledged that “the pitch didn’t help either”; practically the same words that Leandro Paredes said: “the field was bad”; Julian Alvarezthe author of the first Argentine goal: “the field was not in the best conditions”, and Cristian Romero: “the conditions of the field today were very ugly”.
Finally, came Lionel Scaloni’s analysis. The coach spoke in a pre-match conference after the duel and held nothing back:
“The game was similar to the one in Arabia, but there we played on a decent field. With all due respect I want to clarify this, because thank goodness we won, otherwise it would have been a cheap excuse. We have known for 7 months that we are going to play here. They changed the grass 2 days ago. It is not suitable for this type of players.”
