The factors that took their toll on the Argentine and Colombian teams in the Grand Final of the 2024 Copa América

This Sunday, thousands of football fans gathered at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to watch the grand final of the Copa América.

The match, which was extended to 120 minutes after there were no goals in the first 90 minutes of the tournamentoffered a different experience for all attendees, starting with the proposals that were carried out at the end of the event, such as a half-time show.

With only 15 minutes of half-time, the event was led by Shakira. The singer performed three songs on a stage set up on a platform in the middle of the football field, while she was accompanied by dancers and special effects.

According to Argentina’s national team coach, Lionel Scaloni, the stadium’s grass was replaced two days before the final to allow for the spectacle. Which turned out to be a factor that affected the 22 players who were making their debut on the night of July 14.

“With all due respect, I want to make this clear first. Thank goodness we won, otherwise it would have been a cheap excuse to sit here and say this. We’ve known for seven months that we’re going to play here and they walked the grass two days ago for the show, it’s not good (…). Today’s grass, honestly, is not suitable for this type of player.“, Scaloni commented.

The Argentine national team coach was not the only one who criticized this issue. Néstor Lorenzo, the coach of the tricolor team, assured that this act affected the players, Well, the 25 minutes of half-time in which they “cooled down” and “warmed up” took its toll on them.

An arbitration that limited

In the forty-eighth edition of the Copa América the referee who attended the last match of the tournament was Raphael ClausHowever, some players and members of the technical team of the teams in question claimed that the referee had performed his duties poorly.

Lorenzo commented in the press conference held after the match that at the moment in which The players were looking for “intensity” Claus did not allow it.

For his part, Lionel Messi did not hesitate to express his discontent with the referees’ handling of the match. He stated that any slightest contact was called a foul and criticised the lack of review by the VAR.I hope Comebol does something about this type of refereeing. “Because we left everything to try to get through and things went wrong for us,” said the Argentine.

Tatiana Moreno Quintero

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