Finals match between the United States and Brazil is set for 5:15 p.m. Sunday; expect less rain, better conditions than Wednesday' semifinal
Operators of Snapdragon Stadium said the field will be fine for Sunday’s soccer match between the United States and Brazil but declined to explain why the it appeared not to drain adequately during Wednesday's rain-soaked game between the United States and Canada.
Though the $310-million stadium was built on higher ground than its predecessor on the Mission Valley site, the field flunked Wednesday’s test — in what was the wettest challenge yet for a prominent sports event in the 19-month-old venue. Players sloshed through puddles as rain fell. The standing water produced conditions described as “unplayable” by participants, not safe by a former U.S. player and “preposterous,” “waterlogged” and a “sloppy mess” by veteran soccer journalists. Conditions improved in the second half but remained dodgy. A crowd of some 15,000 attended, while a multi-country audience watching online saw San Diego’s showcase soccer field resemble a giant slip-and-slide. Mike Kerns oversees the field’s maintenance and operations. The Union-Tribune has interviewed Kerns several times with approval from his employer, Denver-based Oak View Group. Responding Friday to a request to ask Kerns about the inadequate drainage and the field's projected conditions for Sunday’s CONCACAF W Gold Cup title match, Oak View spokesperson Gracie Pugliese said “we’re not able to provide an interview opportunity with Mike.' Stadium operators “are fully confident in the field conditions for our upcoming match on Sunday,” the spokesperson wrote in her email. New sod was put down in the past two months. That we know. But when was the sod laid? What lessons were learned by folks who didn't have to contend with downpours during the Wave’s season-and-a-third on the site? With a Major League Soccer club coming on board early next year to join the Wave, San Diego State's football team and many others who will perform on the field, should a synthetic-turf field be considered? One hopes not, but San Diego State’s proxies opting against transparency Friday meant the answers to such questions were as clear as the mud that spattered Wednesday onto players in a match the Americans won in a penalty-kick shootout. Stadium workers did strenuous work Wednesday night, pushing water off the massive field during stoppages. It's unclear what has been done since. “Big shoutout to the people of Snapdragon Stadium who I know are working to get the field in better condition,” U.S. midfielder Sam Coffey said Friday. Sunday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny conditions with scant chance of rain. “I’m excited for sun,” said United States star Naomi Girma, one of the San Diego Wave's top players. Girma described Wednesday’s conditions as “pretty hard,” saying the Americans “quickly realized as a team that the game plan had to go out the window.” Across the first half and most of the second half, the marsh-like conditions forced players to congregate closer to the ball. The visual was a more advanced version of kickball seen on local schoolyards during recess. “It wasn’t about who the better soccer team was,” said Coffey, a Penn State graduate from New York’s Hudson Valley who plays also for the NWSL's Portland Thorns. “It was the team that could stay locked in the longest, and we have to credit Canada — they did that so well, too, and they were such an incredible opponent.” Though the Americans stopped short of raising a “here’s mud in your eye” toast afterward, they didn’t deny that a puddle set up their first goal struck by an alert Jaedyn Shaw, the rising 19-year-old forward and another Wave standout. Shaw pounced after a firm pass got held up in a back-end lagoon instead of rolling to goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, also of the Wave. “I just saw a big old puddle and just kept running,” Shaw said, laughing. Sunday's trophy match shapes up as a developmental contest ahead of this summer’s Olympics in France. Both finalists bring considerable depth, some of it inexperienced, to a pairing between North America and South America’s top-ranked teams that stand second and 11th in FIFA's world rankings. Finding its groove under its new head coach Arthur Silva after opening the tournament with a pair of 1-0 victories, Brazil has received goals from 12 different players in outscoring Argentina, Mexico and Panama by a total of 13-1. “They’re a team with a lot of flair, with a lot of creative ability, with a ton of technical ability,” said Coffey, a 25-year-old national-team newcomer who has logged the second-highest minutes total for the U.S. through the five matches. Girma said the Americans’ versatile depth enables the players to establish effective chemistry, no matter who’s playing in the day’s particular match. “That’s what makes us dynamic as a team — is that anyone can fill in those different spots,” said Girma, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s 2023 Female Athlete of the Year. “That’s the way we can hurt teams in different ways.” The U.S. wasn't immune to clunky moments in its match against Mexico two weeks ago. El Tri was the tactically superior team and rode an aggressive start to a 2-0 victory before a supportive crowd in Carson. It was the Americans' first loss to a regional opponent on U.S. soil since 2000 and first loss to Mexico anywhere in 14 years. Some of the postmatch critiques echoed the salvos following the United States' exit from the 2023 World Cup's quarterfinals. Was Girma's absence from the lineup a factor against Mexico? Probably — but you can be sure that kind of thinking would make Girma uncomfortable. Responding to the deserved loss, the U.S. won 3-0 against 23rd-ranked Colombia and survived 10th-ranked Canada's two tying goals in watery conditions that Coffey described as unique for her. So, they've seen fire, they've seen rain. 'We’ve come out stronger and so that’s something that makes me excited about this team going forward,' Coffey said.
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