Rangnick criticises the pitch at the Fadil‑Vokrri Stadium after 1-1 draw in Prishtina

Austrian FA team manager Ralf Rangnick again criticised the poor pitch quality at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium after the Nations League match on Sunday in Kosovo (1-1). In a press conference he said that anyone who does not consider the field to be bad has "no idea about football" and described the playing surface as "a complete disaster".

Rangnick demands better conditions for Nations League matches

The Austrian coach explained that he had already stepped onto the pitch during the final training on Saturday and was "truly shocked". He emphasized that he was not criticizing anyone personally, but merely pointing out the lack of maintenance of the grass. "If there are greenkeepers, they do not ensure that the pitch is 'green' and they do not 'keep' it either", Rangnick said.

Captain of Kosovo Vedat Muriqi and manager Franco Foda shared the assessment. Foda explained that the poor quality was due to the huge workload in the summer, because almost all Kosovar teams had to play their Europa Cup matches there.

Rangnick nevertheless praised the country Kosovo as an "emerging nation" and highlighted the friendliness of the people in the hotel and the city. He hopes that the discussion about the pitch quality will lead to better conditions in the future, especially since Kosovo has many technically gifted players.