After three days of matches and two more to close the first day, the America Cup He has left great goals, records and a lot of emotion. But not everything has been happy news, since concern persists among the teams about the state of the fields and even fear of possible injuries.
“Yes, we saw what happened in the debut (Argentina against Canada), that obviously the conditions of the field were not what we all expected, especially for fluid football and good football,” the Uruguayan defender said this Saturday Ronald Araújo.
“I think the court is the key to everything. I’m not saying it’s an excuse but it’s the most important thing. If you want to see a show, I think the court has to be in condition for that,” he added.
Read also: How to stop Luis Díaz, the obsession of Garnero, Paraguay coach
Between the 2024 Copa América, the expanded 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada, United States, hooked on the ‘Messimanía’ Since the genius from Rosario landed at Inter Miami in 2023, there is a lot at stake these years if he really wants to finally become a reference point in football.
But unfortunately, the state of the pitch has been an unwanted protagonist in this start of the competition.
It is not a new controversy in the US, where artificial grass is regularly used in NFL stadiums, the largest in the country and often reused for important football events (here called ‘soccer’).
Thus, 15 of the 30 NFL stadiums currently use synthetic surfaces, but both the Copa América and the World Cup require natural grass, which poses a notable logistical challenge that is sometimes not resolved in the best way.
“With all due respect, thank goodness we won, because otherwise it would have seemed like an excuse. We’ve known for seven months that we have to play here and they changed the grass two days ago,” the Argentine coach lamented on Thursday, Lionel Scaloni, after facing Canada in the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“The stadium is beautiful and with the synthetic grass it has to be spectacular, but it is not suitable for these players,” he added.
The Albiceleste coach found understanding in the rival ranks since Kamal Miller, defense of Canada, maintained that playing there felt like “to walk on a stage, as if it were hollow.”
Read also: A wake was turned into a “virtual stadium” to see Chile’s debut in the Copa América
Something similar was expressed by Argentine players like Julian Alvarez (“the field was not in the best condition”), Christian Romero (“the conditions of the field were very ugly”) either Emiliano Martínez (“We have to improve that aspect or else the Copa América will always be one level below the Euro Cup”).
Already on Friday, Ricardo Gareca, After Chile faced Peru at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, he joined the voices critical of the situation on the playing fields.
“According to what the players told me, the field was very dry and with limited spaces. We will have to adapt, but there is no doubt that there is always a team that adapts better than another,” stated the Chilean coach.
But on Saturday, the Copa América finally gave itself a break on this issue: Fernando Batista (Venezuelan coach) and Felix Sanchez (Ecuador) were satisfied with the grass at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara and Gregg Berhalter (USA) said that the AT&T Stadium was “better” than when they played the Nations League there in March.
EFE
