Real Madrid beat Dortmund 3-2 in the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals on the morning of July 6. After the defeat, Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said that MetLife Stadium “looks more like a golf course than a football venue.”
“The grass here is too short, not the standard that Bundesliga teams usually use. It is like a golf course, where you can play with a stick,” coach Niko Kovac told reporters. “The grass here is very short, not the grass we are used to playing on in the Bundesliga or at the other two stadiums in this league.”
Dortmund will play their opening match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup group stage at MetLife, followed by two games at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati and a round of 16 match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Kovac said the MetLife irrigation system was not effective enough, making the pitch dry and difficult to play on.
“When the pitch is too dry, the ball becomes very difficult to control. It becomes sticky,” he explained. This has a significant impact on the fast, technical style of play that Dortmund wants to deploy, especially in a tense match like the one against Real Madrid.
The Borussia Dortmund coach also criticized the hot weather conditions in the New York area, saying it was not suitable for a high-level football match. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final kick-off time was 3pm (local time), with temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius. According to him, this temperature, combined with high humidity, is not suitable for a high-level football match.
Source: https://znews.vn/thua-real-hlv-dortmund-do-loi-cho-mat-san-post1566392.html
![[Photo] Gia Lai provincial leaders offer flowers at Uncle Ho's Monument with the ethnic groups of the Central Highlands](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/7/9/196438801da24b3cb6158d0501984818)
Comment (0)