Argentina’s Messi blames the soaked pitch for the draw against Venezuela

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

Heavy rain in Maturin, Venezuela impacted the pitch before kick-off, causing an initial delay before players could return to play on the sodden pitch. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring for Argentina, but Venezuela’s Salomón Rondón leveled in the second half as the teams settled for a point each.

“It was very difficult, it led to very ugly matches,” Messi told TyC after the match. “We couldn’t complete two passes in a row. In the second half we did it a little more on the right, but it’s difficult to play like that. Very little is played.”

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

“In this case we wouldn’t be able to play football,” De Paul said.

Although Argentina currently top the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with 19 points from nine matches, Messi walked away frustrated by the disappointing result. Argentina’s captain said the condition of the pitch did not allow his team to carry out the match it had planned to play.

“We drew level because the pitch did not help us to do what we wanted. We had to play a different match than what we were prepared for,” Messi said. “But we were prepared because we fought, won the battles, played with the rival’s mistake. We couldn’t risk much by playing with passes to the back. In the first half we made a few passes to the back and the water.” would hold it back and complicate it. We made the play we could with the water.”

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said after the match that he felt the pitch was not suitable to play on for a match of this magnitude.

“It (the field) did not meet the minimum conditions for a football match,” Scaloni said. ‘You couldn’t play.

“We did what we had to do, but the conditions on the field were not suitable for a match against two teams of this kind of level.”

Messi returned to action for the first time for Argentina on Thursday after suffering a right ankle injury during their Copa América final victory over Colombia on July 14, 2024, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Messi was sidelined for two months due to the injury, missing matches with Inter Miami CF and the September international window with Argentina.

“The wait to play again (with Argentina) was too long,” Messi said. “I also missed a lot of games with my club. I’m happy to return, to continue adding back-to-back games and to be here again.”

Messi returned to Inter Miami on September 14 against the Philadelphia Union, narrowly missing the September FIFA window with Argentina. Despite wanting to be with his national team, the captain chose to avoid any risk.

“I had not played yet and had little training at the time of the call,” Messi said. “I wasn’t 100 percent yet. Physically, the ankle was bothering me. We both decided I wasn’t ready yet and it was best to stay and train with my team to complete my recovery.”

Now Messi and Argentina prepare to host Bolivia at the Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires for the final match of the October window.

“I miss playing in Argentina, so now I’m happy,” Messi added.