Brazil questions FIFA about ‘poor’ state of field at stadium 974

Brazil will make a “deep consultation” with FIFA about the pitch at stadium 974, Brazil team coordinator Juninho Paulista said on Tuesday, after players criticized the poor state of the pitch at this World Cup.

“We had an appointment yesterday [na segunda-feira]but we are going to make a deeper consultation with FIFA,” he said at a press conference at the five-time champions’ training ground in Doha.

Without the injured Neymar, Brazil beat Switzerland 1-0 on Monday night and qualified for the round of 16. On Friday (2), the team will face Cameroon in Lusail.

If they end up leading, Brazil will face off in the next phase at that same stadium, against second place in Group H, which is led by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, already classified with six points, followed by Ghana (three), South Korea and Uruguay (one point each).

“We believe that, for the round of 16 there, [o campo] it will be more deteriorated because there are still two games to go”, referring to Poland against Argentina, on Wednesday (30th), and Serbia against Switzerland, on Friday (1st). “I don’t know what can be done, but something has to be done to reach the level that a World Cup demands”, he added.

At the end of the match against the Swiss, several players complained about the state of the field at stadium 974. The arena is made of packaging and other recycled materials that will be completely dismantled after the tournament.

“The field is not very dense, it is not good to control the ball. We are used to playing in Europe on fields that look like tatami mats, we arrived here and there is no grass, it is difficult. But if it will be difficult for us, it will be difficult for the opponent too,” said striker Richarlison.

Left-back Alex Telles said that from the warm-up he noticed the ground was “a bit strange”.

“The ball bounced more, it ran a lot and we didn’t feel very safe [por medo de lesões]”, said.

Midfielder Bruno Guimarães considered that the situation on the pitch harmed the development of the game.

“We tried to score in several ways, but the pitch hurt us. It was bad, not as we expected. We had to control the ball that we usually pass with one touch, we lost a little time there. But the important thing is that we got the three points “, said.