Very difficult – Messi on Argentina’s ‘ugly’ 1-1 draw with Venezuela’s

Argentina captain, Lionel Messi has blamed the state of the Estadio Monumental de Maturín pitch for their “ugly’ 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday night in a 2026 World Cup qualifier.

There was heavy rain in Maturi before kickoff, forcing an initial delay.

The players eventually returned to the pitch to play on a soaked field.

Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring for Argentina, but Salomón Rondón equalized for Venezuela in the second half.

“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.”