Usa and Honduras on the pitch at -16 degrees: two players knocked out due to hypothermia
A surreal match in freezing temperatures at Saint Paul Stadium in Minnesota
Take the field at -16 degrees, with a perceived temperature of almost -25.
The footballers of the US national team and those of the Honduras national team did so, who faced each other in a valid challenge for qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The match - which ended 3-0 for the US - was played at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota. And there was no shortage of hypothermia problems for several players, two of whom, as the Honduras Football Association reported on Twitter, had to be replaced at half-time, to be immediately covered with several layers of gloves and clothing.
The referee, Jamaican Oshane Nation, led the match wearing a balaclava and padded gloves, as did some players from the two national teams.
In fact, at the beginning of the second half Honduras had to leave out three of their players who were part of the starting lineup, namely the goalkeeper Luis Lopez, the midfielder Diego Rodriguez and the striker Romell Quioto but the federation has not specified which were the two who felt bad.
Honduran coach Hernan Dario Gomez said instead that "It is not possible to comment, and I cannot do so under such circumstances. In the locker room, my players have been given fluids intravenously and many of them are now sick."
US coach Gregg Berhalter, on the other hand, defended his managers' choice to play in Minnesota at this time of year.
"What do I think? I don't think the health of the Hondurans has been jeopardized, as we have provided them with heavy undershirts and other things to cover their heads as well. So what should we say when they make us play in places where it's almost 40 degrees," Is there a suffocating humidity and all my parents get cramps? Football is all of this too. "
(Unioneonline / lf)
