Brazil’s manager Tite has admitted that he does not believe that CONMEBOL will be able to fix the pitch at the famous Maracana stadium in time for the final of this summer’s Copa America.
The Maracana pitch was in such poor shape earlier this summer that Brazil were forced to move their games to the nearby Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium, but players have not refrained from criticizing the pitch at the latter as well.
Tite was recently fined $ 5,000 by CONMEBOL after insisting that the Nilton Santos plan was “unacceptable”, and he has since admitted that he does not believe the South American governing body will do enough to fix Maracana in time for the final on July 10 rather.
“If I’m talking about the poor pitch [of the Nilton Santos] I will be fined, ” Tite said (via ESPN). “It will happen again. Maracana will not be good until the final. The time is too short [to improve]. You can write it. “
CONMEBOL have confirmed that work on the famous Maracana pitch has begun and stresses that they can fix the arena in time for the final, but many of the game’s top names have expressed frustration after seeing the stadium allowed to deteriorate.
Inician reforms in the grammar of Maracaná for the final of the CONMEBOL @CopaAmerica 2021
The mythical stadium @maracana de Rio de Janeiro will be completed! ? ️?
? ️? ➡️? https://t.co/C4rgql2ELm #VibraElContinente pic.twitter.com/icIpqoiyh2
– CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) June 26, 2021
The quality of the surface at Nilton Santos has aroused intense criticism since Brazil received the tournament at short notice earlier this summer.
Neymar appealed to CONMEBOL to “fix the pitch”, while Argentina’s Lionel Messi recently blamed the surface of Nilton Santos for his team’s failure to beat Chile on the first day of the tournament.
Messi blamed the pitch for holding back Argentina / Gustavo Pagano / Getty Images
“The place was in terrible conditions,” said Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. “You could not take a goal kick. The ball sinks.”
It has been demanded that Nilton Santos be removed from his matches in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, with Arena Pantanal proposed as a possible alternative, but a decision has not yet been made.
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