Argentina slam Atlanta field 'disaster', Bluegrass for Chile
Good Morning! It's June 21st, and Copa America got off to a flying start, while multiple managers moan about all manner of stuff.
So Copa America got underway last night with Argentina doing enough to take care of Canada without ever really hitting top gear. The world champions will take a 2-0 win with a host of missed chances (including two times when the 70,000 crowd in Atlanta thought they were about to witness a Messi goal) but what they won’t take is playing on sods of turf placed on top of an NFL style artificial turf field.
"It's not good for the spectacle. I'm sorry, it's not an excuse, but it's not a pitch,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni.
“The stadium is beautiful and with the synthetic turf it should be spectacular, but with the (grass) turf today. Honestly, it's not suitable for this kind of players," he said.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez went a little further, calling the pitch a “disaster” although we have to wonder if it really was much worse than many of the surfaces teams in South America and CONCACAF regularly play on?
Still, its not a good look that in 2024, soccer in America is still being played in such ad-hoc environment. Great stadiums, great facilities but the idea of placing grass on top of artificial grass is kind of absurd when you think about it. Thankfully, FIFA are demanding that the venues for the 2026 World Cup have to switch to proper natural grass - not sods on top of plastic.
Canada boss Jesse Marsch found something else to complain about after the game - turning his ire on Argentina for their half-time mind-games when they left his team hanging around awkwardly on the sods of turf waiting for the world champions to return.
"When they were waiting, I knew that they were looking at video and they were analyzing how they wanted to play against us. Now, I wish again, the referees would manage that. If we were five minutes late, we'd get a fine. There'd be a big problem."
"Let's see what happens with Argentina. I think they have to be fined,” added the American.
It wasn’t the worst opening game - Canada battled hard, a little bit too hard at times and Argentina offered enough glimpses of what they are capable of in attack. Have a look at the short highlights anyway:
It’s Peru v Chile tonight, at AT&T Stadium in Dallas (Cowboys Stadium) where the two south American teams will be playing on….recently installed Kentucky bluegrass.
Chile, remember, won the Copa America centenary tournament in the USA in 2016 but they haven’t looked like repeating that feat this time around. They do, however, have the upper hand over Peru traditionally and start as favourites this time too. Plenty of info and stats here.
EURO 2024 Round-up
Where to watch: all TV broadcasters around the globe from UEFA
Today’s Games:
Group E: Slovakia vs. Ukraine, 9 a.m. on Fubo
Group D: Poland vs. Austria, 12 p.m. on FS1
Group D: Netherlands vs. France, 3 p.m. on Fox
"We know it's an experiment. We know we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips,” blabbed Gareth Southgate after England were fortunate to hold on to a 1-1 draw against Denmark, who hooked Phillips’ ‘replacement’ on 54 mins despite…
But maybe Southgate has a point?
Italian coach, Luciano Spalletti, suggested Italy were fortunate to only lose by a single goal. “They caused us problems beyond what the scoreline suggests and we can't beat around the bush on that," he said after losing 1-0 to Spain.
And Serbian manager, Dragan Stojkovic, suggested that “Serbs do not die so easily,” after a last-gasp equalizer kept Serbia in the tournament.
Derek Rae’s commentator notes for Slovenia vs. Serbia:
In Other Soccer News
MLS: Inter Miami hire former Barcelona and Arsenal director of football, Raúl Sanllehí, as co-president:
"I have a very clear model in which I believe that clubs should be based and grow from there. The ownership wants to turn this club into a global football powerhouse, and that's something that I embrace completely."
PREMIER LEAGUE: Crystal Palace offer Micheal Olise a ‘bumper new deal’ in an effort to deter Bayern, Chelsea and Newcastle. (DailyMail)
Liverpool hope the arrival Of Mbappe and Endrick at Real Madrid means a chance of signing the ‘Turkish Messi’, Arda Guler. (TeamTalk)
Stat of the Day
England have never won their first two games at a Euros.
The Daily Soccer Quote of the Day
"For a country that's won one World Cup & have never won the Euros they're very expectant & very arrogant about their chances." - the always impartial James McClean on RTE.
