Even though the field was in bad shape, Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, went ahead with a goal from Nicolas Otamendi. But in the second half, Salomon Rondon tied it up for Venezuela.
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.
Captain Messi, now 37 and fully recovered from an injury he got in the Copa America final against Colombia in July, played brilliantly on the wet pitch. He assisted Otamendi to score just 13 minutes after the kickoff, which was delayed by half an hour because of heavy rain.
Lionel Messi said the bad condition of the pitch at Estadio Monumental de Maturín was to blame for Argentina's "ugly" 1-1 draw against Venezuela in their World Cup qualifier. The game was delayed because of heavy rain, but it finally started with puddles all over the field.
Even with the messy conditions, Argentina took the lead thanks to Nicolas Otamendi, but Salomon Rondon scored to tie it up for Venezuela in the second half.
“It was really tough; it made the game look pretty ugly,” Messi said to TyC after the match. “We couldn’t even make two passes in a row. In the second half, we managed to do it a bit on the right side, but it’s hard to play like that. There wasn’t much flow.”
Messi also mentioned that the rain and bad pitch kept Argentina from playing their usual style.
“We tied because the field didn’t let us do what we wanted, so we had to adjust our game plan,” he said. “But we were ready and fought hard, taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes. We couldn’t take too many risks with back passes. In the first half, when we tried that, the water just stopped the ball, which made things harder. We played the best game we could under those conditions.”
Argentina is sitting at the top of the CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifying standings, but Messi’s frustration is totally understandable.
This was Messi's first game for Argentina since their Copa America win over Colombia in July, where he got an ankle injury. He played a key role on the wet pitch, assisting Otamendi for the first goal in the 13th minute.
After Venezuela went down a goal, striker Rondon picked up the pace. Argentina’s goalkeeper, Geronimo Rulli, who stepped in for the suspended Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez, made some great saves in the first half to keep Argentina in the lead.
But in the 65th minute, Rondon scored with a header from a cross by Yeferson Soteldo, leveling the match.
Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul shared his teammate’s frustration after the match. “In this case, we couldn't play football,” De Paul said.
Despite Argentina leading the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with 19 points from nine games, Messi left feeling disappointed with the result. He mentioned that the poor condition of the pitch didn’t let the team play the way they had planned.
