Scaloni criticizes pitch after Argentina's latest setback
Lionel Scaloni took aim at the Arena Fonte Nova's pitch after Argentina disappointed in yet another major tournament outing on Saturday.
Lionel Messi nodded wide and Leandro Paredes missed with a shot from around 30 yards, but Argentina was otherwise disjointed and dull during a 2-0 loss against Carlos Queiroz's Colombia in Copa America play.
Roger Martinez beautifully finished a Cafeteros breakaway after 71 minutes, and Duvan Zapata's close-range stab near the end condemned Scaloni and his charges to a sobering night.
"We were good in the first 20 minutes, then we weren't 'til (the) end of (the) first half, we lost the ball a lot. We corrected things in the second half, we were very superior to Colombia. Then (when) we were at our best they scored on the counterattack," the Argentina manager said, according to Richard Martin of Reuters.
"I thought the state of the pitch was lamentable and that's the first game here," Scaloni added. "Imagine what it's going to be like after three."
Expectations for this aging crop of Argentinians, already low prior to the tournament, are now in the gutter. Angel Di Maria was substituted at the interval following a languid first half, Sergio Aguero wasn't close to rehashing his Manchester City form, and Messi's glimpses of goal were largely shut out by the disciplined Colombians.
The state of the pitch - which didn't appear particularly poor - should be the least of Scaloni's worries.
Argentina will try to revive its bid for Copa America silverware in Wednesday's meeting with Paraguay in Belo Horizonte.