One day before the duel between
River and Boca
for the quarterfinals of the
League Cup
,
the Mario Kempes grass is not in good condition
and there is concern.
Clarín
had access to the playing field and was able to observe firsthand that the grass and floor where the Superclásico will be played is far from its best version.
Despite the efforts made to accelerate the reseeding work that was being carried out, at first glance there is no clear green, but rather
there is a lot of sand, some cracks and work is being done against the clock with the marking of the grid
. And it is still not quite green as
Agustín Calleri
, president of the Córdoba Sports Agency, stated in the press conference that was held on Friday at noon in Ezeiza for the presentation of the match with the presence of players (Nacho Fernández and Marcos Rojo) and leaders (Juan Román Riquelme and Ignacio Villarroel) from both clubs and the head of the AFA, Claudio Tapia, to present the match.
"The River-Boca is the most important Superclásico in the world. In Córdoba we live with much more passion because we are not used to having it. And I tell everyone to stay calm because
the playing field is in optimal conditions
. They are giving us a little bit for that matter, but it's going to be fine.
It's going to be green and nice
, "
said Calleri at the AFA grounds in Ezeiza.
From Córdoba they were optimistic.
"We are going to get there very well, we are in the middle of replanting, it is the season, and you are going to see this in all the fields. It is a process that lasts three or four days with some defects, but it is a natural process that is done every years" ,
Marcos Ibáñez, agronomist
and manager of the Kempes playing field,
had confidently stated .
"Reseeding is something common.
When a home game ends, this reseeding is done, these are normal times
. Last Thursday it was played here and we are on the fifth day of reseeding, in 48 hours you will see a completely different image, and Sunday is going to be perfect," the specialist added.
"In the run-up to winter, a very strong intervention is done on the summer grass, so that the winter grass has space to grow.
It is cut down, vertical cutting is done, sand is thrown to help germination, all of that. It looks ugly on the surface and is what you see today . As the hours go by, as the seeds explode, what you see will gradually improve, the
aesthetic
part
is already given to you by the base, and it is very good. well," Ibáñez explained.
In Córdoba they had not had advance confirmation of matches for the weekend, although the possibility of River playing at Kempes was being considered, regardless of the rival.
However, the reseeding process took a couple of days
and began only last Thursday because it was not clear if on the last date the Institute would receive the Millonario in that stadium, a match that ended up being played in Alta Córdoba. When the Superclásico was confirmed, all roads pointed to La Docta, of course.
"Our field is usually at 8 points, it is a margin that we give because we always need to improve.
We are going to arrive very well on Sunday.
The weather is the only factor that we cannot manage but it has been going perfectly. We started on Thursday, the rain allowed that the seeds germinated and now we have full sun
," Ibáñez celebrated.
In any case, the view and images of the Kempes for now indicate the opposite. Will he be able to look in good condition this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. when the teams take the field?