Argentina’s 2-0 victory vs. Canada on Thursday in Copa América wasn’t smooth sailing. It literally wasn’t smooth because the Mercedes-Benz Stadium grass put in place caused issues for both teams.
Members of Argentina and Canada said that the grass put in place wasn’t up to par. Atlanta United and the NFL’s Falcons play on turf inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, however the artificial turf was replaced with grass on Sunday.
Copa América grass issue
The replacement grass was basically placed over concrete creating a uniquely bad surface to play on.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni was upset following his side’s victory and pointed blame at those in charge of hosting.
"Two days ago (the surface) was fake, and then they parched panels of grass together. It's painted to appear nicer than it is," Scaloni said. "The weird thing is we knew months ago we'd play here, so maybe things could've been done about the pitch quicker.
We couldn't do much more with the conditions of the pitch. Look at the speed of the passes that we did."
Star goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez said the field paints a bad picture for CONMEBOL and Copa América.
"The state of the pitch was a disaster. Very bumpy. We must improve in this aspect,” Martínez said. “Otherwise, Copa América will always appear at a lower level than the European Championship."
Argentina defender Cristian Romero echoed the opinions of Martínez and Scaloni about the playing surface.
“Having to play this competition on such an ugly field like this is unfortunate,” Romero said. “The field conditions were very ugly.”
Canada’s Kamal Miller didn’t feature in Thursday’s game but did go through warmups on the field.
"(The field) felt like walking on a stage, as if it was hollow," Miller said.
Argentina will expect a similar issue in their next game vs. Chile on Tuesday at MetLife Stadium as it will once again be temporary grass on a usual turf field.
Other stadiums hosting Copa América games that are usually turf include Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, NRG Stadium in Houston and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Don’t be surprised if more teams complain about the fields in the coming weeks.
Field preparations for the 2026 World Cup in the United States are expected to be far more intensive to avoid the issues being faced in Copa América.
