Argentina players ‘concerned’ about safety of families ahead of Copa America final

MIAMI – A day after Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa condemned South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL for staging the 2024 Copa America in the United States, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez met with organizers ahead of Sunday’s final. Supported Bielsa’s assessment of the shortcomings. vs. Colombia (8 p.m. ET, Fox and Fox Sports App).

In particular, the pair expressed fears there could be a repeat of the security failure that harmed Uruguay’s players and their loved ones after Wednesday’s semi-final defeat. Los Cafeteros,

“I hope it doesn’t happen tomorrow,” Scaloni said during Argentina’s pre-match press conference on Saturday. “My family will be there, every player’s family will be there. We can’t worry.”

Despite all the world-class players and teams performing in packed stadiums across the Americas over the past three-plus weeks, organizing USA 2024 has been plagued by problems since the opening match between Argentina and Canada in Atlanta on June 20.

Martínez hit out at the poor temporary grass field at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium after that game, and complaints about the condition of the pitch at other venues have been persistent throughout the competition. The list of other complaints is long: amateurish officiating, third-rate television production (which CONMEBOL handles in-house), non-existent marketing and exorbitant ticket prices for fans.

But in the moments following Wednesday’s semi-final between Uruguay and Colombia in Charlotte, North Carolina, CONMEBOL’s most shameful dereliction of duty yet was exposed for the world to see.

After the latter’s 1–0 win, a brawl broke out in a nearby stand, where family members of Uruguayan players were sitting. With no security in sight and seeing their loved ones – including mothers with infants and young children – in clear and immediate danger, Uruguayan players scurried into the seating areas to protect them. Shocking videos of several trading punches with yellow-clad fans have been doing the rounds on the internet for the past few days.

“The images were very sad,” Scaloni said, before referencing comments made by Bielsa on Friday. Albiceleste. “I absolutely agree with what he said about the grounds and I have to say after what happened with Colombia and Uruguay – especially looking at (Sunday’s) match – I think it should be a party Apart from the happiness of winning the title, it would be great if we can have a happy ending.

Speaking about the Uruguayan players, he added, “Everybody in that situation would have reacted the same way.” “I don’t know if anyone is to blame for this, but seeing your family in the middle of riots – or even close to them – is something that will make you lose your mind.”

Unfortunately for Argentina, the ugly scenes in Charlotte were reminiscent of events that took place before a CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana stadium last year.

“We had a similar situation in Brazil, I had family members nearby and there were also women and children who were beaten,” Martínez said. “So I think it would be great if we could strengthen security and have a clear division between Colombian and Argentinian fans to avoid any possible fighting.”

Scaloni said: “The footage looks like something that could have happened 50 years ago, something that we overcame. If I think about tomorrow’s game I worry.”

The coach also addressed Bielsa’s suggestion that organizers had demanded that Argentina’s players and staff stop talking publicly about bad pitches, giving a different explanation for their recent silence on the subject.

“If the grounds were in that condition at the start of the group stage, there was no way they could fix it,” he said. “So I thought it would be better not to talk about it, because otherwise it would seem like we were making excuses.

“We didn’t want to use it as an excuse.”

Doug McIntyre is a football writer for Fox Sports who has covered United States of america Men’s and women’s national teams at the FIFA World Cup on five continents. follow him @ByDougMcIntyre,