22.06.2014 17:09 h

Australia and Spain unable to train on Curitiba pitch

Australia and deposed holders Spain's preparations for their final World Cup Group B match in Curitiba on Monday has been disrupted as neither side could train at the Arena da Baixada the day before the game due to the bad state of the pitch.

The stadium has played host to Nigeria's 0-0 draw with Iran and Ecuador's 2-1 win over Honduras in the past week with Russia's final group H game against Algeria also to come on Thursday.

And Australia boss Ange Postecoglou said the spectacle between his side and the dethroned world champions would have been affected if both sides had trained at the stadium on Sunday.

"The pitch hasn't recovered from the last game and from our perspective the better condition the pitch is in tomorrow the better," said Postecoglou.

"It is not ideal as it would be better for the players, but looking at it now it would detract from the spectacle tomorrow if we trained on it and Spain trained on it."

Both sides have already been eliminated from the competition after defeats in their opening two games to the Netherlands and Chile.