Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique didn’t hold back after PSG’s 2–0 win over Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field. While his team advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the Spanish manager made it clear that he’s far from impressed with the state of the playing surfaces in the United States.

Luis Enrique: “The ball bounces like a rabbit”

“If the walk from the locker room to the field is long, I don’t care. What matters is the condition of the pitch,” he said in a blunt postgame press conference. “And I’m saying this after a win. These fields are nowhere near the level we see in Europe. They’re decent, but the ball bounces like a rabbit. It’s a serious issue.”

Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and MLS’s Seattle Sounders, recently converted its playing surface from artificial turf to natural grass for the tournament. But that transition has come with growing pains.

“This was an artificial pitch before, and now it’s natural, but it has to be watered manually. They did that at halftime, and it dried out in ten minutes. That’s a real problem. Again, I’m not making excuses—we won—but it affects the quality of play. FIFA has to take this into account.”

PSG coach adds to Bellingham criticism: “Like an NBA court full of holes”

Luis Enrique isn’t alone in his criticism. Jude Bellingham had also voiced concerns about the surface in Charlotte after Real Madrid’s game against Pachuca. But the PSG coach took it a step further, saying poor pitch conditions are an issue not just in stadiums, but also at training grounds.

“In the world’s top competitions, you’d never imagine an NBA court full of holes. Yet we’re playing on fields where the ball doesn’t behave like a ball—it’s like a rabbit bouncing all over the place. If we’re going to talk about what needs to change, this should be top of the list.”

The Spaniard had hinted at his frustration earlier in the press conference, even as he praised his players’ effort: “We didn’t start the game well, but we deserved the result. I’m happy overall—we can improve in some areas. It’s hard to find fluidity on a pitch like this. It’s just not the same as in Europe. But we’re trying to adapt.”

PSG defender Achraf Hakimi, who scored the second goal and was named MVP against the Sounders, also voiced his unhappiness with the conditions after the match, although his gripe was more to do with the extreme heat in which players were being made to train and play in.

“A Club World Cup every two years? Why not every two months?”

Additonally, Luis Enrique took a jab at the expanded format of the Club World Cup, which FIFA plans to hold every two years starting in 2029.

“Every two years? Why not every two months?!” he joked, before turning serious. “The calendar is maxed out. All the coaches and players know it. Some tournaments look promising, sure—but we need to be clear about how much rest players require. They’re not machines. If we want soccer to remain a world-class sport, players need time to recover. That’s the only way to maintain the level of play fans expect.”

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