Club World Cup: MetLife Stadium pitch criticised after hosting first game

New York Times

14 hours ago

The head coaches of both FC Porto and Palmeiras, as well as the Brazilian wonderkid Estevao, criticised the turf at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday night following the draw between the two teams in the Club World Cup.
MetLife Stadium will host eight Club World Cup matches this summer, including both semi-finals and the final, before hosting the men's World Cup final next summer in a tournament which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Advertisement
Playing surfaces were a cause for complaint at last summer's Copa America in the U.S. and the Argentine head coach Lionel Scaloni described the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as not being up to standard while goalkeeper Emi Martinez said it was a 'disaster' and 'like a trampoline.' Brown patches were also visible on the sides of the pitch at MetLife during last summer's tournament, which was organised by CONMEBOL rather than FIFA.
In a news conference following the 0-0 draw between Brazilian team Palmeiras and the Portuguese team FC Porto, the 18-year-old man of the match Estevao raised the pitch as a cause of concern.
Estevao, who has already agreed to join Premier League team Chelsea after this tournament, said: 'I think the pitch should have been watered a little more as the ball was a little slow which interferes with the pace of the game. It was both for ourselves and for Porto. As the game went on, it rained which made it roll a bit faster.'
Over the past year, FIFA has studied which grass type would be best for MetLife, before deciding upon a 'warm-season grass' it believed would endure the local conditions. The Athletic has previously reported that grass was grown at Tuckahoe Turf Farms, which is also responsible for the grass being grown for the men's World Cup in 2026.
The stadium, shared by the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets, usually has a synthetic turf but the FIFA competitions this year and next summer require natural grass. This week has been inconsistent in terms of weather, with boiling temperatures midweek before dropping closer to 60 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend.
Abel Ferreira, the Palmeiras coach, said: 'In the beginning, the pitch was dry. I don't know who is the patron saint for rain but after it rained it then enabled us to play our game.'
Advertisement
The Porto player Ze Pedro also said the pitch 'could be better' while the Porto coach Martin Anselmi added: 'I do feel like the pitch caused us to be a bit imprecise. This was particularly when we wanted to accelerate the game. There were some mistakes that happened (as a result) but the grass is the same for both teams. We had to adapt.'
Meanwhile, the Palmeiras coach also suggested that FIFA should consolidate fans within the lower rings of the stadium when attendances fall considerably below a sell-out during this tournament. This match had a creditable attendance of 46,275, largely made up of passionate Palmeiras fans and while the lower rings appeared close to full, supporters were scattered across three tiers which does not make for the best atmosphere. Some had flown in but the match also benefited from the Brazilian diaspora within the U.S.
Ferreira said: 'The issue is the stadium is huge. Forty-six thousand is a big number but maybe they could have closed the third ring and placed everyone in the first and second (to bring it closer).. But with the amount of Palmeiras fans, it was like we were playing at home and this was a strength for Palmeiras. The stadium is too big but 46,000 is very good when people from Brazil and Portugal had to come and fly in and it's not so easy to do that.'
He declined to comment as to whether FIFA should look to reduce ticket prices further in order to make the game more accessible to a broader audience. FIFA did provide QR codes to fans attending the game on boards outside the stadium which offered 20 per cent discount on other group stage games being played at MetLife Stadium.
Thursday's fixture for Palmeiras against Al-Ahly at MetLife has now dropped down to $45 on Ticketmaster for standard admission while Tuesday's noon kick off between Borussia Dortmund and Fluminense is now down to $33 at the same venue.