France midfielder Adrien Rabiot has raised concerns about the quality of the pitch at the New York New Jersey Stadium, describing it as “more like an artificial surface”.<\/p>\n
France started their World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win against Senegal<\/a> at the venue in New Jersey on Tuesday, which is home to NFL teams the New York Giants and Jets.<\/p>\n Also known as the MetLife Stadium, it is due to host England’s final group game against Panama on 27 June, as well as the World Cup final on 19 July.<\/p>\n Rabiot, 31, started and played the full match, assisting Bradley Barcola for the second goal, before criticising the pitch after France’s victory.<\/p>\n “The pitch… I don’t even know if you can call it that. It felt more like an artificial surface – quite hard and quite rigid,” Rabiot said.<\/p>\n Rabiot’s complaints echo Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, who cited the pitch’s dryness after his side’s 1-1 draw with Morocco<\/a> in their opening fixture.<\/p>\n “In the second half, with the heat, the pitch dries out very quickly. The game becomes very sluggish and we can’t get into our rhythm,” Vinicius said.<\/p>\n The 78,576-capacity stadium has had a temporary grass pitch installed for the World Cup in place of its artificial surface.<\/p>\n The stadium’s artificial turf has a poor reputation, with numerous NFL stars suffering serious injuries on the surface. <\/p>\n Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers tore his anterior cruciate ligament there in September, becoming the latest player to fall victim to the so-called ‘MetLife curse’.<\/p>\n Senegal will take on Norway in the next game to be played at the venue on 22 June.<\/p>\n