Spectators, prepare yourselves: the lawn of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium should give rise to a strange spectacle this Tuesday, during the friendly match between the French football team and Scotland. During the various Rugby World Cup matches that it hosted, the Lille venue saw its pitch being very damaged. Which could not be completely repaired by the gardeners, to the great dismay of Didier Deschamps.
“It’s magnificent, you want me to compliment it,” quipped the Blues coach on Monday at a press conference, when he was questioned about the state of the pitch, before becoming more serious again. Even if the gardeners do their best, we cannot say that it is very beautiful. Even though she is strong, at one point she suffers. »
Five World Cup matches in Lille
It has especially not been spared in recent weeks: in addition to France-Uruguay, on September 14, Lille hosted four World Cup matches, including England-Samoa and Tonga-Romania, organized in quick succession on October 7 and 8. The hybrid lawn, made up of rolls of grass laid alongside synthetic plots in August, did not always show itself to its advantage, sometimes lifting up like a common carpet.
What calls into question the choice to play this match in Lille? “I am a coach, if you want to speak to my president (Philippe Diallo)… There are stadium choices that are made, I am consulted and I have to argue”, preferred to evacuate the coach, who had already criticized the quality of the northern pitch during Euro 2016.
The decision of the French Federation, which had to resolve to organize several series of home matches outside the Stade de France because of the World Cup and then the Olympic Games, was in any case taken a long time ago. After this escapade in the North of the country, the Blues will play their next meeting, against Gibraltar on November 18, at the Allianz Arena in Nice.
