Copa América

ATLANTA — Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Argentina should be fined after the defending champions emerged late from the dressing room for the second half in their Copa América opener on Thursday.

After the first half ended goalless, Argentina opened the scoring four minutes after the restart through Julian Alvarez while Lautaro Martinez scored a late goal in a 2-0 win.

Argentina emerged for the second period around five minutes after Canada.

Jesse Marsch Argentina complaint

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.

Racism is still the biggest plague of the “Beautiful Game”, and it reared its ugly head on Thursday as Argentina and Lionel Messi fans racially abused Canada’s Moïse Bombito on social media.

Fans weren’t happy about the tackle on Messi from the Colorado Rapids star during the Copa América opener between Canada and Argentina. During the second half Messi went down and received treatment following this tackle from the Canada defender.

The Copa América kicked off with Argentina defeating Canada 2-0 on Thursday, however a FOX audio delay frustrated fans who tuned into FS1.

For the entire first half of the opening match commentators John Strong and Stu Holden were on a roughly two second delay. 

FOX has had audio issues in the past, but thankfully this time at least the audio was behind rather than two seconds ahead. There’s nothing worse than the commentators spoiling what you’re about to see.

Here were some examples of what the audio delay looked like in the highlights during the first half.

Gregg Berhalter announced the United States men’s national team’s 26-man roster for the Copa América on Friday with an incredibly strong list. All 26 names were part of the squad that faced Colombia and Brazil in two June friendlies.

Our 26 pic.twitter.com/iUYFS4wGni

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 14, 2024

Pulisic’s incredible season in Italy has earned him one of the best looking cards on EAFC.

Christian Pulisic earns Serie A Team of the Season card on EAFC 24

Christian Pulisic earned himself a Serie A Team of the Season card on EAFC’s Ultimate Team mode, with the American being one of the players with the highest overall rating in the team.