Saturday’s friendly between the US men’s national team and Belgium at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was played indoors, in a climate-controlled environment, on natural grass, even.
Inside the cavernous, 70,000-seat venue, the air was a perfect 72F (22C), as it always is. The stadium’s massive, 8,400-ton HVAC system is designed to cut Atlanta’s stifling summer humidity. On Saturday, they probably could’ve turned the thermostat off entirely: outside, it was a picture-perfect, comfortable spring day.
