Argentina Opens Up Copa America With Win Over Canada, Still Finds Time To Complain About Field Conditions

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Argentina opened up the Copa America on Thursday night with a comfortable 2-0 win over Canada at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Despite the great start to the tournament, the defending World Cup champions and top-ranked team in the world didn't want to talk about the result, but the conditions of the field instead.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium typically houses artificial turf for both the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, but organizers elected to install a natural grass surface. Despite knowing that games would be held in the stadium for months now, the grass was installed just two days prior to the Argentina - Canada match.

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez didn't appreciate the surface and claimed it presented a bad perception when comparing it to the Euros, which are taking place at the same time.

"The state of the pitch was a disaster," Martinez said. "Very bumpy. We must improve in this aspect; otherwise, Copa América will always appear at a lower level than the European Championship."

Not to burst Martinez's bubble, but the pitch conditions aren't going to boost Copa America's level to that of the Euros. The Euros feature the national teams of England, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium, just to name a few. Copa America's top sides include Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and the United States. From top to bottom, the Euros make Copa America look like a group of Double-A baseball teams.
 

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Lionel Messi's Argentina side isn't pleased with field conditions for the Copa America. Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni did not mince words when complaining about the conditions of the field in Atlanta. He all but admitted he would have used the conditions as an excuse if his side didn't come out on top.

"Better that we won, or else it would have appeared as an excuse, but they knew seven months ago that we'd play here and they changed the field two days ago. It's not an excuse, but this isn't a good field. Sincerely, the field is not apt for these players," Scaloni said.

Next up for Argentina is a clash with Chile at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, another stadium that typically features artificial turf that has only been replaced for Copa America this summer.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.