Chile coach slates threadbare Sao Paulo pitch

Chile rejected the chance to train at the Corinthians arena on Sunday, with coach Jorge Sampaoli slating the visibly threadbare pitch as "not meeting expectations."

>>Reuters
Published : 23 June 2014, 09:25 AM
Updated : 23 June 2014, 09:25 AM

Chile face the Netherlands in a Group B match in Sao Paulo that will decide who tops the group and avoids a potential last 16 tie against host nation Brazil.

But while Dutch boss Louis van Gaal gave his players a workout there on a crisp afternoon, Sampaoli preferred to train elsewhere so as not to further damage the surface.

"We normally don't train in the stadium where we are playing, we prefer to be closer to our headquarters," Sampaoli said. "That was also to protect the pitch, the pitch is in a really bad state so we don't want destroy it even more. We will have a decisive match tomorrow on a pitch that does not meet expectations."

Only four professional matches have been played at the ground, which was one of the last to be ready for the month-long tournament. But the pitch already looks threadbare and the goalmouths were cordoned off on Sunday to avoid more wear and tear.