The patchy Canberra Stadium playing surface copped a hammering from Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou but Canberra Stadium officials are adamant the ground's shoddy presentation won't affect the city's chances of attracting more international sport.
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Postecoglou voiced his displeasure after his side cruised to a 3-0 win against Kyrgyzstan on Thursday night.
There was also plenty of criticism from former Socceroo Andy Harper and on social media, however several players didn't have any issues with the surface.
It was in stark contrast to January's Asian Cup tournament when Canberra Stadium was in immaculate condition for the seven games, including a quarter-final, held at the ground.
Territory Venues and Events general manager Liz Clarke, who as part of her role manages Canberra Stadium, said while the surface wasn't ideal, it shouldn't have any impact on Canberra's role in securing events.
"I don't think so, particularly in the discussions I have had with (Football Federation Australia)," Clarke said.
"They are very, very happy with how we delivered the event.
"Territory Venues were very disappointed that visually it wasn't at the level we had been able to get the field of play for January for the Asian Cup, but it was definitely to do with the weather.
"There were no concerns about the playing surface at all."
Clarke said the problem occurred because the weather wasn't warm enough for the couch grass to take over from the rye.
"The grass is monitored every day so the FFA were aware of how the turf was going," she said.
"We didn't know we wouldn't get that sort of heat.
"Normally at this time of year it is much warmer and you don't get as much rain, so it was a day by day thing to see if the couch was going to take off."
The Socceroos game was the first fixture at Canberra Stadium since the Canberra Junior Region Rugby League grand finals in September.
Postecoglou wants the Socceroos to have the advantage of playing on perfect surfaces when they play in Australia so they can make the most of their superior technical skills.
"I sound like a bit of a whinger, but we travel away from home and pretty much everything is against us," Postecoglou told the Big Sports Breakfast on Friday.
"The conditions are suited to the home team and the pitches are usually very ordinary.
"I just think at home we should get what we want.
"You saw last night we like to play some pretty attacking football and keep the ball on the deck. If the pitch is not right then it just makes it more difficult."
Midfielder Mark Milligan said the Socceroos did their best to maintain their natural style of play.
"We still tried to play the way that we wanted to play, to keep it on the deck," Milligan said.
"It was a bit difficult, a bit wet and a bit quick, but they are things we need to adapt to and I think we handled it quite well.
"It wasn't bad."
Thursday night's game was the first time the Socceroos had played in Canberra since they beat Malaysia 5-0 in 2011.
Harper voiced his disappointment at the playing surface during his commentary role with Fox Sports.
There were also plenty of comments on social media that questioned why the pitch was in the state it was given it was Canberra's first Socceroos game in four years.
"This time of year, it's not a risk, but it means potentially the visual is not going to be looking as good as what we normally have it looking," Clarke said.
