Messi excuses himself for poor Copa América performances

June 29, 2019 By Oscar Rojas

Topics: Copa América, Venezuela, Argentina, Lionel Messi, Brazil

The Argentine will try to lead La Albiceleste to a third straight Copa América final, but Brazil will not make it easy for Scaloni's men.

Argentina has made it to the semi-final stage of the Copa América for the third straight edition, but this time, their brightest star did not have a major role in that accomplishment.

Lionel Messi had a somewhat disappointing game against Venezuela, failing to make his presence felt and also not finding the back of the net. "La Pulga" has only been able to score one goal during this tournament, which has sparked some doubts about his form to play in this competition.

Speaking after the Quarterfinal clash against Venezuela, Messi blamed the turf at Maracaná stadium for his poor performance, while also criticizing the other stadiums where La Albicelester has played this summer.

"Unfortunately, the pitches are awful. It's a shame for us to be playing the Copa América on pitches like the one we played on today. You can't play the way you like to play. We try it sometimes but it's hard. Rivals place a lot of players in midfield, and you have to be quick to evade them, but a pitch like this one does not help," Messi stated.

The Argentine star admitted that fans that wanted to see thrilling games might be a bit disappointed by the general outcome of most games, but he went back to criticize the grounds where they have been playing as an excuse for the poor show fans have been watching.

"You need more than two touches to control the ball, you can't dribble because it drifts away from you. Games have been really tight because of that, but it has been the same for everyone, all we can do is keep fighting to win," Messi added.

Before the interview concluded, Messi spoke about the upcoming clash against Brazil.

"We knew we would cross paths against them. We thought we'd finish on top of the group and that we would meet them in the final, but now we will get to play against them in the next stage. All I can say is that the game against Brazil will be really tough," Messi concluded.