“Very tough – Messi on Argentina’s ‘ugly’ 1-1 draw with Venezuela.”

Argentina captain Lionel Messi blamed the condition of the Estadio Monumental de Maturín pitch for their “ugly” 1-1 draw against Venezuela in Thursday night’s 2026 World Cup qualifier.

Heavy rain in Maturín before kickoff caused a delay, and the teams eventually had to play on a waterlogged field.

Nicolás Otamendi gave Argentina the lead, but Venezuela’s Salomón Rondón equalized in the second half.

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“It was very difficult, it leads to very ugly matches,” Messi told TyC after the game. “We couldn’t string together two passes. In the second half, we managed a bit more on the right, but it’s hard to play that way. Very little actual football gets played.”