Memphis Depay and Neymar, forwards for Corinthians and Santos, respectively, once again complained about having to play on artificial turf in some Brazilian stadiums. "Artificial turf kills the game. Brazil, when are you going to listen to the players?" he asked the Dutch international on his social media, after the away victory against Athletico Paranaense (0-1), at the Arena da Baixada stadium, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil.

Neymar, who returned to Santos at the beginning of the year, backed up the comment of the former FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid player on Thursday. "I agree," said the Brazilian national team's all-time top scorer in response to Depay's message.

Paranaense, two-time Copa Sudamericana champions and currently in the second division of the Brazilian Championship, is one of the Brazilian clubs that has opted to install synthetic turf on its pitch, in the city of Curitiba. Palmeiras and Botafogo, the last champion of the Brazilian League and the Copa Libertadores, also play at home on this type of pitch. They claim that they are certified by FIFA and that their use is necessary due to the high number of matches and the weather conditions, which excessively degrade natural grass. Other stadiums in the South American country, such as the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, use a hybrid model, which mixes natural grass with artificial strains. This is not the first time that the great stars of the 'Brasileirao' openly criticize artificial turf. Last February, shortly after returning to Santos, Neymar led a campaign supported by other footballers, including defender Thiago Silva and midfielder Philippe Coutinho, in which they denounced the "worrying direction" of Brazilian football. "It is absurd that we have to talk about synthetic turf on our fields. Objectively, with the size and representativeness of our football, that should not even be an option," they declared at the time on their social networks.