From difficulties rolling the ball to even causing an injury. Colombia criticized the conditions of the field in Houston, where it debuted in the Copa América, joining Brazil, Argentina and Peru, who also complained about their respective stadiums in the United States.
Colombia dominated the match on Monday at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, in Group D, against Paraguay. When he had already scored two, he received a goal from stoppage time and his coach, Néstor Lorenzo, mentioned the state of the field, originally synthetic and for American football, but with grass placed apparently at the last minute for soccer, as a discomfort for his players. ‘of the Copa América.
“Today’s problem [lunes] went around the playing field, the players complained that the ball did not run and, sometimes, in some spaces of the field, the ball bounced and in others it did not, it did not bounce. The issue is that they planted the grass buns about five days ago and it is still synthetic below. “It’s a strange thing,” said the coffee coach.
“The pitch wasn’t helping much, it was dry, it was like they put a mat there, weird, I don’t know. The conditions of the pitch weren’t very good, and that also influenced the game being very frictional,” said James Rodríguez, the star of the match.
“On the court, I saw that at times it didn’t bite [el balón]but in the end it didn’t seem to me that there were so many problems,” said the coach of Paraguay, Daniel Garnero, his rivals on the day.
The Mexican and Jamaican squads, which also played there before, expressed no complaints.
In this same stadium, the quarterfinal duel will be played between the leader of group A and whoever comes second in group B, on July 4.
– It’s no excuse, but… –
The same malady, apparently, afflicted Brazil, which for the first time failed to score against a resilient Costa Rica at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
“We have no excuse, but the playing field certainly gets in the way. The quality of the Copa América is completely different from the Euro Cup and measures have even been reduced [del campo] to make it even more difficult,” considered Real Madrid figure Vinicius Jr.
“The measurements are quite narrow, 100 x 60 I think, x 63. What’s more, it was seen that the throw-ins reached the six-yard box. Even I, who have no strength, reached it (ndlr: in training). Most of the players They are used to playing on longer and wider fields, that makes it easier for the team to press, always,” Lorenzo noted.
Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, was the first to raise the issue after the opening match of the Copa América, where they beat Canada 2-0, on June 20.
“Thank goodness we won, but you can’t play soccer on this field,” lamented the coach, complaining about the state of the grass at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“We have known for seven months that we are going to play here and they changed the grass from synthetic to grass two days ago. I’m sorry, it’s not an excuse, but it’s not a field to play soccer in,” Scaloni claimed firmly, coinciding with Emiliano Martínez and Cristian Romero.
This Monday, resigned, Scaloni said that it was what there was for the remainder of the Cup, and that they had to adapt.
– Injuries? –
In the duel between Peru and Chile, on June 21, the Peruvian winger and Boca Juniors figure, Luis Advíncula, had to leave the field at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, due to a sudden injury, without contact with another player, in the Achilles tendon area.
“I keep in mind that this is a grass field today, but it is not the normal grass that is born and grows but rather it is a grass that is brought in from outside. That can make it a little harder and sometimes it can affect you precisely in that part” of the body, said Peru’s coach, Uruguayan Jorge Fossati.
“I’m not a doctor or anything like that, but I’ve been in football for a few years and I know that Achilles tendon injuries can come from that side too,” added the coach.
So far neither the organizer Conmebol nor the guest Concacaf have commented on the matter.
Mav/ol
THE NATION
