17 degrees below zero! Two Hondurans were exchanged against the United States due to extreme cold

The extreme cold that was felt in Minnesota forced two Honduran players to be changed at halftime in the game against the United States and they did not come out on the field for the second half, as part of the eleventh day of the octagonal final of the Concacaf Qualifiers heading to Qatar 2022.

Temperatures reached -17 degrees Celsius at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota, whose choice as the venue for the clash was defended again on Wednesday by the US coach, Gregg Berhalter.

The Honduran coach, Colombian Hernán ‘Bolillo’ Gómez, made three changes at half-time in the match, when his team was already down 2-0.

Later, through its Twitter account, the Honduran national team reported that two of its players “did not return to the second half of the qualifying game against the United States due to the extreme weather conditions that prevail in the stadium.”

The team did not identify the affected players or provide further details on their condition.

The players replaced were goalkeeper Luis López, midfielder Diego Rodríguez and striker Romell Quioto.

Players from both teams took to the field in multiple layers of clothing, and some members of the Honduran team even played with balaclavas covering their heads.

In the post-match press conference, coach Gregg Berhalter defended his team’s right to take advantage of the weather in their home games in these Qatar-2022 World Cup qualifiers.

“We want to win our home games”, he stressed. “We consider that our field is an advantage and that the playing conditions that the rivals are not used to are also an advantage for us”.

“But we also go to other countries and it’s 90 degrees (fahrenheit, 32 degrees Celsius) and unbearable humidity and the kids get dehydrated and get cramps and heat exhaustion. That is the nature of our competition.”explained the technician.

With information from AFP.