Flooded pitch causes chaos in Argentina’s draw with Venezuela as Lionel Messi rants about ‘ugly’ match
LIONEL MESSI ranted about the waterlogged pitch after Argentina drew with Venezuela.
Nicolas Otamendi‘s early opener was cancelled out by a goal from former Everton and West Brom striker Salomon Rondon.
After the match Messi complained his side had to ditch their gameplan because of the pitch conditions.
Rain left the ground soaked and inhibited the ball’s movement during the match.
A clip of Messi warming up showed the ball stopping dead after he hit a shot against the bar, with water preventing it from bouncing at all.
Messi believes the conditions made for an “ugly” match as it prevented passes from being made with players having to “battle” instead.
He said: “It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches.
“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.
“We tied because the pitch didn’t help us do what we wanted, we had to play a different game than the one we prepared for.
“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.
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“In the first half we made a couple passes to the back and the water would stop it, and complicate it. We did the game we could with the water.”
Kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes due to the pitch conditions before the referee judged it okay to play.