After the USMNT beat Honduras 3-0 in frigid Minnesota, Christian Pulisic was visibly annoyed at having to answer questions from a Fox Sports reporter about scoring a brace when he only scored one goal (he had one disallowed by offside). He just wanted to get inside and warm up, and who can blame him when the weather was so miserable two Honduran players reportedly had to be treated for mild hypothermia.
Throughout the now-finished international window, the USMNT played three of its coldest matches ever, including the frighteningly cold match at Allianz Field in Saint Paul. The18’s Connor Fleming survived the minus-15 wind chill, but he wore three layers, a luxury not afforded to players forced to run around in shorts.
In the build up to and aftermath of the window, the U.S. touted its mentality to handle the cold. It was a great sentiment to put forward in the USMNT’s quest to qualify for the World Cup, to utilize every advantage to its utmost. Honduras clearly didn’t want to play in the cold, so the American players said they embraced it.
But after the window, after six points were taken from nine, the USMNT players let us know how they really felt about the cold.
You can always count on social media for players to say what they might not be willing to say to reporters, and Wednesday night and Thursday morning USMNT Instagram pages were full of talk about how friggin’ cold the match was, with one player joking he’ll retire next time he’s asked to play in such a game.
USMNT Cold Weather Reactions
Let’s start in the back with the poor sap who was probably the coldest man on the pitch on Wednesday: U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner. The future Arsenal keeper had very little to do — he didn’t make a single save — and had his quarterback pouch, which USMNT said was approved by Concacaf, taken away by the referee early in the match.
Whenever there was a stoppage in play, Turner ran to the sideline to receive the warmth of a blanket. Most of the match he just kept his hands in his pants, nature’s pocket. When the ball was in the Honduras half, he ran around to try to stay warm. After the match, he complained about his boogers being frozen and used a frozen face emoji that would become a common theme among USMNT players.
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same, @headdturnerr pic.twitter.com/rwMHa8bYWq
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) February 3, 2022
Reggie Cannon, one of four Texans in the starting lineup, said he’ll “never be doing that again” after the match, pointing to his red, frozen ears.
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Miles Robinson posted about growing up in Boston and playing college ball in Syracuse but still not being ready for the type of wind chill he faced against Honduras.
Antonee Robinson grew up in England and certainly didn’t see this type of cold overseas. He posted about “difficult” conditions to go with a meme about how damn cold it really was.
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Moving on to the midfield, the USMNT’s best player right now, Weston McKennie, said he hopes to never have to do something like that again. He most definitely never played in weather like that growing up in Texas.
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Luca de la Torre, who came in with just four caps to his name but was given the start and named player of the match by coach Gregg Berhalter, was too happy about playing to say anything negative about the weather, but we’re pretty sure the San Diego native would have preferred the match be played in California climates.
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Kellyn Acosta made a Lil Yachty reference in his postgame post. Lil Yachty has a song called “Minnesota” and that’s as far as I got googling the artist.
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After posting a happy birthday message to his wife, Jordan Morris talked about how great it was to be back playing for the USMNT after suffering injury setbacks. He made sure to use a frozen face emoji to remind people it was kinda cold.
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Ricardo Pepi, the fourth Texan in the starting lineup, took an elbow to the nose early in the match, which had me googling at what temperature blood freezes. Pepi posted after the game saying he broke his nose, which you know must’ve hurt like hell in such frigid weather.
Finally, our last starter on the list is poor Tim Weah. The Brooklyn native and son of Liberian president George Weah made two IG Stories posts directly after the match.
The first shows a battle wound on his right foot, including a sock bloodier than Curt Schilling’s.
Then he posted a meme/image from The Shining, saying “I’m retiring next time we have to play in weather like this.” He’s probably joking. Maybe.
How about the bench players?
Sergiño Dest was rested for the match and didn’t post after the game, but you can see how happy he is on the sideline here knowing he didn’t have to play and could enjoy some hot apple cider. Next to him, Mark McKenzie was wishing he was anywhere but freezing his ass off, or maybe he was wondering where to get some cider.
We all had fun last night, huh?#USAvHON x @VW Recap » https://t.co/BAHBI0iYMY pic.twitter.com/dxcBbpepWy
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) February 3, 2022
Christian Pulisic came off the bench and scored with one of his first touches. Aside from being annoyed by the aforementioned postgame interview on the field, he went the Jordan Morris route and utilized the frozen face emoji.
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Even the Fox announcers were cold. Stu Holden posted an image with John Strong and Alexi Lalas as the three enjoyed frozen beers.
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About the only person who never complained about the cold was Walker Zimmerman, the tough-as-nails center back who embraced the cold more than any player on the roster. The Georgia native’s beard was frozen, but the captain’s mentality exemplified the USMNT’s will to win no matter what.
as @thewalkerzim says…
Tonight was . pic.twitter.com/Bno0qdaJZ4— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) February 3, 2022
But not even Zimmerman could refrain from using that frozen face emoji.
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In the end, despite many people on social media berating U.S. Soccer for subjecting players and fans to such miserable playing conditions, the USMNT persevered and got the job done, which is just what U.S. Soccer was hoping for when scheduling these matches in Ohio and Minnesota. Berhalter even took some time to celebrate the supporters who braved the low temperatures by taking a photo with some fans during the match.
As much as the USMNT players tried to say they embraced the challenge, a quick look at their Instagram pages tells a different story. It’s clear they would’ve much rather played the matches in warm Florida or sunny SoCal.
Fortunately for them, the USMNT is done playing World Cup qualifiers in cold weather. The next match is at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, followed by playing Panama at home in Orlando, Florida, before finishing things up in San José, Costa Rica. We can guarantee those matches will be warmer than it was Wednesday night.
