- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The bad news for football fans is that AT&T Stadium in Arlington is one of 16 massive stadiums set to host games at the new and supposedly improved 48-team FIFA World Cup in 2026.
If we ever wanted proof of just how badly FIFA has lost control of football, we got it at lunchtime on Sunday when the Socceroos risked life and limb to play out a 2-2 draw with Mexico on one of the most dangerous-looking artificial pitches we’ve ever witnessed.
Midfielder Jackson Irvine went off in the 88th minute with what looked like a serious ankle injury after his trailing foot got caught in the plastic turf as he tried to make a tackle on Mexican substitute Roberto Alvarado.
It capped a frustrating final half-hour for Graham Arnold’s men, who had taken a two-goal lead when Martin Boyle blasted home from the penalty spot just eight minutes after Mexico had missed an earlier spot-kick when Santiago Gimenez saw his effort clatter against the inside of the post.
Many of the 21 fouls awarded throughout a niggling, ill-tempered clash were the direct result of the two teams struggling to deal with the unpredictable bounce of the ball, with the patchwork-like pitch looking like it was hand-stitched together about 15 minutes before kick-off.
The stadium will need remedial work before it hosts World Cup football – and that includes converting the pitch from artificial to a natural grass surface – but it hosted Sunday’s friendly primarily because more than 52,000 Mexican fans could pile into what is normally the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
And they made a strange sort of atmosphere befitting the occasion – with a high-pitch din from the stands accompanying every Mexican touch of the ball for the first quarter-hour or so – regardless of where it occurred on the pitch.
That’s modern football nowadays – with FIFA largely appealing to a cashed-up, middle-class fanbase that doesn’t always seem to be watching the action too intently on the pitch.
It’s probably a good thing they weren’t, in Arlington, with both teams forced to resort to diagonal long balls in behind the fullbacks to try and break open the game.
It was the Socceroos who had much the better of the first-half proceedings, and they opened the scoring after Guillermo Ochoa pushed a long-range Connor Metcalfe effort around the post that was already going wide.
(Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
Harry Souttar still had plenty to do when Martin Boyle swung over his corner, but the out-of-favour Leicester City defender got in front of his marker to head the opening goal into the far corner.
Mexico thought they had found a way back into the game when Keanu Baccus handled a Luis Romo volley, only for Santiago to slam his rocket of a penalty off the inside of the post.
Having narrowly escaped conceding the equaliser, the Socceroos went two goals ahead when Riley McGree cleverly skipped between two defenders and drew an obvious foul just after the hour mark.
After missing the World Cup through an ACL injury, Boyle went the safe-as-houses route of simply smashing the resultant penalty straight down the middle.
The Socceroos looked like they had the game in the bag, but Mexico were awarded a second penalty when debutant Cam Burgess shoved Uriel Antuna in the box when the ball looked like it was going to run out of play.
This time substitute Raul Gimenez converted, and when Harry Souttar inexplicably stooped to let another long ball bounce, substitute Cesar Huerta reacted by gleefully smashing it home on the half-volley soon after.
You could argue about the fairness of the Mexicans levelling from two goals behind, but in truth the Socceroos turned in a sloppy second half.
On the plus side were debuts to 27-year-old Ipswich Town defender Burgess and new Middlesbrough man Sam Silvera, even if Irvine’s late injury was obviously a huge negative.
And if there’s one thing we learned from Australia’s strange 2-2 draw with Mexico on Sunday, it’s that NFL stadiums with artificial pitches are the last places FIFA should ever allow international fixtures to be played upon.