Brutal Cold Gives Players Hypothermia As US Soccer Wins In MN

ST. PAUL, MN — The U.S. men’s soccer team earned a much-needed World Cup qualifying win in the brutal cold Wednesday night in St. Paul, but the game is likely to be remembered most for being the coldest game the team has ever played.

U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie opened the scoring in the eight minute from a Kellyn Acosta free kick, with captain-for-the-night Walker Zimmerman making it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

The U.S. men’s soccer team’s biggest star, Christian Pulisic, capped the scoring with a goal in the 67th minute, less than three minutes after coming off the bench. Pulisic’s goal sent the 19,202 fans at Allianz Field into a frenzy despite record-setting cold temperatures in St. Paul.

It was 2 degrees when the game kicked off at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, with a wind chill of 16 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service. That made the game the coldest ever in the history of the U.S. men’s national soccer team.

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Prior to Wednesday’s game, the previous record for the coldest USMNT game was 29 degrees, ESPN reports.

“Three points on the board, three goals, in negative-three-degree weather,” a stadium announcer roared over the loudspeaker at the end of the game.

The brutally cold weather was a major talking point ahead of the game and prompted criticism of the U.S. for hosting Honduras at an open-air stadium in Minnesota in February.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory for the Twin Cities metro area Wednesday, warning that frostbite could occur in as little as 10 minutes on exposed skin.

Honduras manager Hernan Dario Gomez said before the game that he couldn’t wait for it to end “because it’s not for enjoying, it’s for suffering,” Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel wrote in a piece called “Congrats to the USMNT, but shame on US Soccer.”

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Though there have been no reports of frostbite Wednesday night, two Honduras players were taken off at halftime due to hypothermia and “extreme climate conditions,” Honduras’ football association tweeted during the game.

Gomez said after the game that some of his players were “receiving IV fluids and many of them are in pain” because of the frigid conditions they played in, ESPN reports.

U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner spent much of the second half running and skipping around his penalty area as he tried to stay warm, with little on-field action for him during the one-sided contest.

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As he left the field, Turner reported "my boogers are frozen,” as seen in a video posted to the USMNT’s Twitter page.

U.S. Coach Gregg Berhalter said Allianz Field was chosen to give his team an advantage over their Central American opponents and to reduce travel time after playing Sunday in Hamilton, Canada.

The U.S. put itself in a strong position to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with its 3-0 win over Honduras.

The team sits second in its qualifying group, four points behind Canada and level with Mexico, with 21 points from 11 games. The U.S. has won six games, drawn three and lost twice.

The top three nations from the group will qualify for the 2022 World Cup, which starts in November, while fourth place must win a playoff to book its spot at the tournament.

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Panama currently holds fourth place, with 17 points from 11 games, while Costa Rica is in fifth, with 16 points.

The U.S. would guarantee itself at least a spot in the World Cup qualifying playoff with five points from its final three games. The team is scheduled to play Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica during the final qualifying window at the end of March.

The U.S. men's soccer team qualified for seven consecutive World Cup tournaments from 1990-2014 but failed to earn a spot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.