Lionel Messi Clinches 46th Career Title As He Leads Inter Miami To First League Title

Lionel Messi Blames Venezuela’s Wet Stadium Following Argentina’s Draw

Posted by: Eninu William in International Football October 11, 2024

Argentina’s Lionel Messi has come out to blame his country’s draw with Venezuela to a wet stadium. Nicolás Otamendi gave Argentina the lead, but Salomón Rondón of Venezuela tied the score in the second half as the teams settled for a point apiece.

Messi attributed Argentina’s “ugly” 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday night in their first World Cup qualifier of the October international window to the state of the Estadio Monumental de Maturín.

Heavy rain in Maturin, Venezuela affected the pitch prior to kickoff, causing an initial delay before players could return to play on the sodden field.

“It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches,” Messi told 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.”

After the final whistle, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul expressed his frustration, echoing that of his World Cup-winning colleague.

“In this case, we couldn’t play football,” De Paul said.

Messi left disappointed by the outcome, even if Argentina leads the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying rankings with 19 points from nine games. The captain of Argentina said that his team was unable to play the game as planned. This was due to the condition of the field.

“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.

Messi sustained a right ankle injury during Argentina’s Copa América final victory over Colombia on July 14, 2024 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. He made his Argentina debut on Thursday.

Due to the injury, Messi was sidelined for two months, missing Argentina’s September international window as well as games with Inter Miami CF.

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