Argentina’s Lionel Messi blames soaked pitch for Venezuela draw

Lionel Messi blamed the conditions of the pitch Estadio Monumental de Maturín for Argentina’s “ugly’ 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday night in their first World Cup qualifier of the October international window.

The heavy rain in Maturin, Venezuela impacted the pitch before kickoff, forcing an initial delay before players were able to return to play on the soaked field. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring for Argentina, but Venezuela’s Salomón Rondón levelled in the second half as the teams settled for a point apiece.

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Argentina’s Lionel Messi blames soaked pitch for Venezuela draw
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Did a water-logged pitch hamper Messi and Argentina? (2:12)
Lizzy Becherano
Oct 10, 2024, 08:35 PM ET
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Lionel Messi blamed the conditions of the pitch Estadio Monumental de Maturín for Argentina’s “ugly’ 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday night in their first World Cup qualifier of the October international window.

The heavy rain in Maturin, Venezuela impacted the pitch before kickoff, forcing an initial delay before players were able to return to play on the soaked field. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring for Argentina, but Venezuela’s Salomón Rondón levelled in the second half as the teams settled for a point apiece.

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“It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches,” said Messi to TyC after the game. “We could not complete two passes in a row. In the second half we did it on the right a little more, but it is difficult to play like that. Very little is played.”

Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul echoed his World Cup-winning teammate’s frustration following the final whistle

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Argentina’s Lionel Messi blames soaked pitch for Venezuela draw
play
Did a water-logged pitch hamper Messi and Argentina? (2:12)
Lizzy Becherano
Oct 10, 2024, 08:35 PM ET
Share
LikeLike
Open Extended Reactions
LikeLaughInteresting
124
Lionel Messi blamed the conditions of the pitch Estadio Monumental de Maturín for Argentina’s “ugly’ 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday night in their first World Cup qualifier of the October international window.

The heavy rain in Maturin, Venezuela impacted the pitch before kickoff, forcing an initial delay before players were able to return to play on the soaked field. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring for Argentina, but Venezuela’s Salomón Rondón levelled in the second half as the teams settled for a point apiece.

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9dLizzy Becherano
“It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches,” said Messi to TyC after the game. “We could not complete two passes in a row. In the second half we did it on the right a little more, but it is difficult to play like that. Very little is played.”

Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul echoed his World Cup-winning teammate’s frustration following the final whistle.

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“In this case, we couldn’t play football,” De Paul said.

Though Argentina currently lead the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with 19 points from nine games, Messi walked away frustrated by the disappointing result. The Argentina captain said the state of the pitch didn’t allow his team to execute the game it had planned to play.

“We tied because the field didn’t help us do what we wanted, we had to do another game than the one prepared for,” Messi said. “But we were prepared because we fought, won the battles, played with the error of the rival. We couldn’t risk much by playing with passes to the back. In the first half we made a couple passes to the back and the water would stop it, and complicated it. We did the game we could with the water.”