Messi blames pitch after 'ugly' Venezuela draw

Lionel Messi was left annoyed at the state of the pitch at the Estadio Monumental de Maturin as Argentina drew 1-1 in Venezuela on Thursday.

Heavy rain in Maturin had initially caused kick-off to be delayed by half an hour, although when the players eventually took to the field it was clear that the ball was holding up in water and bounced very little.

Argentina, who had eight shots to Venezuela's 16, went ahead in the first half through Nicolas Otamendi before Salomon Rondon equalised in the 65th minute.

And Messi did not hold back in expressing his anger at the playing conditions.

"It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches," said Messi.

"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."

Team-mate Rodrigo De Paul was in agreement with his captain and was another player to vent their frustration after the match.

"In this case, we couldn't play football," he said.

With the ball barely rolling on the pitch, both teams had to resort to changing their tactics to deal with the conditions. That is something Messi believes Argentina did well, but ultimately cost them the game.

"We tied because the field didn't help us do what we wanted, we had to do another game than the one prepared for," he 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 [played] the game we could with the water."

We're bringing a point back from Maturín! Venezuela 1 1 Argentina #ArgentinaNT pic.twitter.com/ptCWA0bK7y

— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) October 10, 2024

The draw maintains Argentina's position at the top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying group with 19 points after nine matches. Following Colombia's defeat in Bolivia, their lead was extended by a point.

But Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was another who took the side of his captain, explaining that he thought the game should not have gone ahead.

"It did not meet the minimal conditions for a football game," he 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."