Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said the grass "affected his team’s tactics" because he said his players "weren’t able to pass like they wanted"Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/VIEWpress
CONMEBOL officials said that the grass at Mercedes-Benz Stadium “will remain” for Thursday’s U.S.-Panama Copa America match
despite “critical remarks from Argentina” following its 2-0 win over Canada last Thursday, according to Doug Roberson of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. After the Argentina-Canada match, a Mercedes-Benz Stadium official “referred questions about the grass to CONMEBOL” and it responded with the decision “a day later.” The process used to put down the grass, which includes “putting flooring over the existing artificial turf, followed by putting down rolls of sod,” was used in the USWNT’s match against Japan in the She Believes Cup two months ago, as well as two back-to-back friendlies between Premier League teams last summer (
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/21).
SURFACE LEVEL: THE ATHLETIC’s Greg O'Keeffe wrote the reviews on Copa America’s playing surfaces have been “alarming.” Complaints from players and managers have been described as “a disaster”, “frustrating” and “bad for the spectacle.” The playing surface was “heavily criticised by players” following Argentina’s win over Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Then after Chile and Peru’s goalless draw the following day, “both managers added their own notes of caution about the field” at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. USMNT MF Weston McKennie “voiced his own concern” saying, “It’s frustrating, especially as a player.” McKennie: “You’re playing on a football field, with laid grass that’s all patchy and it breaks up every step you take. It’s frustrating.” AT&T Stadium’s standard playing surface was “removed before topsoil was laid on top of concrete.” Then on June 10 -- 11 days before it hosted Peru and Chile -- sod panels were “laid down.” Chile manager Ricardo Gareca, however, reported his players “felt the surface was dry” on Friday night, despite it being “heavily watered before kick-off and at half time.” The “unavoidable” issue could be that “grass laid on top of concrete, or even the more extensive process undergone in Dallas, is not the same as permanent top-level pitches in Europe and South America.” The “reality” remains that this tournament is a “dry run for the world’s biggest in just two years.” It is about “laying foundations, in every sense, and getting things right.” But the early reviews are a “warning shot” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/23).
