If you think it’s cold in Hong Kong, you should see what the weather did to this T-shirt during World Cup qualifier
- Pair use a T-shirt that had been frozen stiff to highlight the freezing weather in Minnesota for a World Cup qualifier between the US and Honduras
- Two Honduras players had to be taken off because of the sub-zero temperatures in a match the US won 3-0
There might have been a chill in the air around Hong Kong these past few days, but that’s nothing compared to the conditions football players from the US and Honduras found themselves in on Wednesday night (US time).
Conditions in Minnesota were so bad that a T-shirt two television commentators were using froze stiff, and two members of the visiting team were substituted because of sub-zero temperatures.
The Concacaf qualifier in St. Paul, which ended in a 3-0 win for the US, kicked off with the temperature at around -16 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit).
To put that in perspective, the coldest it was in Hong Kong on Thursday lunchtime was 7.5 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) at Ngong Ping on Lantau Island.
Players from both teams took to the field with multiple layers of clothing, with some opting for balaclavas in addition to gloves and thermal jerseys.
Jamaican referee Oshane Nation also wore a balaclava and gloves throughout.
The Honduras national team’s Twitter account later revealed that two players were substituted at half-time “due to the extreme weather conditions prevailing in the stadium.”
The affected players were not identified. Honduras made three substitutions at half-time, taking off goalkeeper Luis Lopez and midfielders Diego Rodriguez and Romell Quioto.