Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni unhappy with pitch after win over Canada in Copa opener

ATLANTA – Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was unhappy with the pitch at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the 2-0 Copa America win over Canada on June 20, saying it was unsuitable for this level of competition.

The venue, which hosts matches for Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United and the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons, usually has an artificial pitch but a temporary grass surface was installed ahead of the tournament opener.

Defending champions Argentina lacked their usual fluidity in the first half and looked vulnerable at times, much like their 2022 World Cup opener in Qatar where they were stunned 2-1 by Saudi Arabia.

“The start looked like the match with Saudi Arabia, with the difference that we played on a more decent pitch that time,” Scaloni said. “With all due respect, thank goodness we won. Otherwise, it would have been a cheap excuse.

“We have known for seven months that we are going to play here and they changed the turf two days ago.

“It is not good for the show. It is not an excuse, the stadium is beautiful and with synthetic turf it must be spectacular, but with today’s turf it is not suitable for this kind of players.”

He added the surface made it difficult for his team to play their normal game and the tactical approach he prefers, even as forwards Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored second-half goals to secure the Group A victory.

“They were not feeling confident with the poor condition of the pitch, they couldn’t make the passes that they wanted,” the 46-year-old said. “Given the poor condition of the pitch there wasn’t much we could do.”

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez echoed his manager’s sentiments, telling TyC Sports: “Coming here against a strong Canada, with good forwards and on a field that is a disaster, made it a little difficult for us.

“We have to improve in that aspect. Otherwise, the Copa America will always be at a lower level than the European Championship.”

Canada coach Jesse Marsch was more concerned about timekeeping issues, saying that Argentina should be fined after they came out late for the start of the second half.

The game was goal-less at the interval and, after the half-time break, the Canadian players were left standing on the field for several minutes waiting for their opponents to emerge.

Marsch suggested they were using the time for some extra video analysis.

“I knew that they were looking at video and they were analysing how they wanted to play against us,” he said.

“Now, I wish again, the referees would manage that. If we were five minutes late, we’d get a fine. There would be a big problem. Let’s see what happens with Argentina.”

Despite defeat, he was positive about his team’s performance after the 48th-ranked team in the world, whom he took the reins of only in May, caused the world No. 1 plenty of headaches.

“Big picture is we had a good performance and especially when we were able to execute our tactical plan, we made it very difficult on Argentina and really could have had some goals,” the American added.

The game was just the third with Canada for Marsch, who led the team in a 4-0 friendly loss away to the Netherlands before a 0-0 draw in France against Didier Deschamps’ team.

Canada captain Alphonso Davies, however, was not content with his side's display.

“We have to change our attitude towards the game,” he told Canadian broadcaster TSN.

“The first half we played well, but in the second half we let every long ball bounce. It was a disappointing result, we need to look at everything we did wrong in the game and fix it as soon as possible.” REUTERS, AFP