The reduced pitches of the Copa América have a fundamental explanation: the stadium owners did not agree to adapt their arenas to the most common dimensions in football.
OThe interests of the owners — most of them from the NFL — prevailed. The franchises of football blocked works or drastic changes to the structure to make room for the soccer. This would have an impact with the temporary closure of arenas and a reduction in audience capacity.
Conmebol would not be able to generate such a “disorder” because, unlike editions of the Copa América in other countries, the entity does not have control of the stadium during the entire competition. Acts as a tenant, like any other.
In Miami, host of the final, there will be two games, a show, and then Conmebol returns, setting up the entire structure for the decision on July 14th. There is no room for negotiation.
With this scenario, Conmebol then needed to include in article 41 of the regulations: “The playing field at the stadium will preferably have the following dimensions: 100m long by 64m wide.”
With the look of the NFL, the field is narrower and shorter: 5m less in length and 4m less in width than the FIFA standard — which football’s elite are used to.
In a simple area calculationa loss of 740m².
- Area in FIFA standard: 7,140m²
- Area at Copa América: 6,400m²
And now?
The effect of numbers becomes concrete when the Brazilian team, for example, has difficulty finding space in Costa Rica’s defense. Although that wasn’t the only reason for the goalless draw in the debut.
The tight space for the corner kick in the national team’s game, played at SoFi Stadium, in Los Angeles, was a practical portrait of how the intervention would not be simple. A concrete wall was right next to it.
According to the UOL found, Conmebol discussed the matter with the associations in a council meeting at least eight months ago. And then, the “mini fields” entered the regulations.
What also made the search for alternatives difficult was the fact that Major League Soccer (MLS), the football league in the United States, did not stop during the Copa América — about this, the CBF cannot even complain, because the Brasileirão continues tailwind and with absences.
NFL stadiums are large. Of the 14 arenas chosen for the Copa América, 11 have a capacity for more than 60 thousand people.
And then, Conmebol found itself faced with a choice: games in smaller stadiums, with less audience and reduced financial return? Or adjust the dimensions of the lawn? Left for the patch of grass. The bet is on full stands, even in front of “mini fields”.
And if at least one of the selected stadiums could not reach FIFA standard dimensions, the solution was to expand it to all fields of the competition.
And look, three relatively small stadiums entered the match schedule — serving to relieve two of the three regional hubs set up for the competition.
On the East Coast, the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, It has capacity for 25 thousand people and will host Canada x Chile and Bolivia x Panama.
In the Central Region, Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City it receives up to 18 thousand people and was the stage for just one game: Peru x Canada.
Also in this central hub, Q2 Stadium in Austin, in Texas, it has a capacity of 20,000 and will host Jamaica x Venezuela and Costa Rica x Paraguay.
Players didn’t like it
The Brazilian team, for example, played two friendlies and has been training on reduced-size pitches since the beginning of the month. But the adaptation is still difficult.
“Tell us if this size of the field helps or not. It is what it is and for all teams. There is no point in bringing this subject up all the time. The only thing that makes me very dissatisfied is that the players and coaches are never asked about it. It’s just that They make the decisions they have to make on their own and we are forced to accept them. That’s how it works”, said right-back Danilo, Brazil’s captain.
The demonstrations have been more from those who work in the field than from management. Especially because the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, is part of the Conmebol Council that approved the reduced fields.
It is in this tight situation that the Brazilian team tries to win again and win a title. In theory, the scenario becomes more difficult for those who want to attack and easier for those behind.
Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay won their opening games, even with smaller fields. Brazil, no.
2024-06-26 07:00:00
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