Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni was critical of the grass put down for Thursday’s opening match of the Copa America tournament at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Argentina defeated Canada 2-0.
Scaloni repeatedly and incorrectly said the grass was put down two days ago. It was put down on Sunday following Atlanta United’s match against Houston.
He said the grass affected his team’s tactics because he said his players weren’t able to pass like they wanted.
A Mercedes-Benz Stadium official referred questions about the grass to CONMEBOL, which supervises the tournament.
The U.S. is scheduled to play Panama on June 27 in the stadium in the tournament.
The two parties were scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss replacing the field with another from the same farm. It would be the same type of Bermuda grass. The meeting was prearranged and not because of Scaloni’s comments.
The process used to put down the grass, which includes putting flooring over the existing artificial turf, followed by putting down rolls of sod, was used in the U.S. women’s national team’s match against Japan in the She Believes Cup two months ago, as well as two back-to-back friendlies between Premier League teams last summer. None of those teams said anything critical publicly about the grass.
Visually, the grass on Wednesday didn’t look uniform. The lines between the rolls of sod were clear. But those seams were stitched together and the ball seemed to roll well. No players slipped and there were no injuries. During the game, there were no remonstrations about the grass by any of the players.
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, in which Atlanta will host eight matches, it is probable that the turf will be pulled up, dirt put in and grass grown.
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