Messi: Soaked pitch led to 'ugly' 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.

“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.

“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.”

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said after the match he didn’t think the pitch was fit to be played on for a game of this magnitude.

“It [the pitch] did not meet the minimal conditions for a football game,” Scaloni said. “You couldn’t play.

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

Messi returned to action with Argentina for the first time on Thursday after suffering a right ankle injury during their Copa América final win over Colombia on July 14, 2024 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Messi spent two months on the sidelines 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 many games with my club. I am happy to return, to continue adding consecutive games and to be here again.”

Messi rejoined Inter Miami on Sept. 14 in the match against the Philadelphia Union, narrowly missing the September FIFA window with Argentina. Despite a desire to be with his national team, the captain chose to avoid any risks.

“I hadn’t played yet and I had little training at the moment of the call,” Messi said. “I wasn’t at 100 percent. From a physical point of view, the ankle was bothering me. We both decided that I wasn’t ready 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 am happy,” Messi added.