The Argentina nationwide crew slammed the pitch at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the inaugural match of the 2024 Copa América on Thursday evening, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez calling the newly put in grass floor a “catastrophe” and supervisor Lionel Scaloni saying it was “higher that we received.”
“The state of the pitch was a catastrophe. Very bumpy. We should enhance on this facet, in any other case, Copa América will all the time seem at a decrease degree than the European Championship,” the Aston Villa goalkeeper stated.
La Albiceleste triumphed 2-0 over Canada as targets from Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez secured the crew the highest spot within the Group A standings. However Scaloni used the victory as a possibility to name out the situations on the dwelling of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons — an artificial floor that was lined with pure grass simply two days in the past — by criticizing the group’s poor planning.
“The sport was like that of Saudi Arabia within the World Cup, besides that one had pitch,” Scaloni stated, referencing his crew’s opening-game loss in Qatar in 2022. “Higher that we received, or else it will have appeared as an excuse, however they knew seven months in the past that we might play right here and so they modified the sector two days in the past. It isn’t an excuse, however this is not area. Sincerely, the sector will not be apt for these gamers.
“We gave not essentially sport, however a sport based on the pitch and what the rival proposed. We could not do far more with the situations of the pitch. Take a look at the velocity of the passes that we did.”
Along with the Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium can be the house of MLS’ Atlanta United FC — each groups play on the unreal floor. At Conmebol’s request, the stadium put in grass for the event.
When Atlanta United confronted the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, the venue nonetheless had a synthetic floor.
“Two days in the past it was pretend, after which they parched panels of grass collectively. It is painted to look nicer than it’s,” Scaloni stated. “The bizarre factor is we knew months in the past we would play right here, so possibly issues may’ve been performed concerning the pitch faster.”
Canada defender Kamal Miller additionally criticized the pitch the place his nationwide crew performed its first Copa América sport.
“It felt like strolling on a stage, as if it was hole,” Miller stated.
A crowd of 70,564 attended the opener of the 32-game event. The USA performs Panama on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on June 27.
The stadium will host eight video games through the 2026 World Cup, together with a semifinal.
Subsequent up for Argentina in Group A is a match in opposition to Chile at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday. Canada will face Peru on the identical day at Youngsters’s Mercy Park in Kansas Metropolis.