Honduras Goalkeeper Buba Lopez Subbed From WC Qualifier vs. USA Due to Hypothermia
Feb 3, 2022
United States' Weston McKennie (8) scores a goal on Honduras goalkeeper Luis Lopez (22) during the first half of a FIFA World Cup qualifying soccer match Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)
Honduras goalkeeper Buba Lopez had to be removed from Wednesday's 3-0 loss against the United States at halftime due to hypothermia.
Buba López - Honduras GK - was treated with an IV at halftime due to hypothermia https://t.co/oeTOhwbD9b
Soccer writer Grant Wahl reported that Honduras forward Romell Quioto also left the game due to hypothermia.
Even before the game was played, the United State Soccer Federation's decision to play the contest in Saint Paul in the dead of winter, when frigid conditions are the norm, drew criticism:
Cancel the match. Move it to one of the 50 warm options the US has. The USSF has done absolutely everything it can to destroy the #USMNT's World Cup hopes coming off a disastrous last cycle. Unfathomably inept. https://t.co/cAI56wOo3a
It’s a farce for US Soccer to have chosen to play the World Cup qualifier tonight against Honduras in temperates around -15C in Minnesota - putting players health at risk when the US isn’t lacking warmer places to play. Needed FIFA intervention on welfare https://t.co/jrwrvrb370
Pressing your geographical advantages in World Cup qualifying is nothing new in the CONCACAF region. Games are played in the sweltering heat in certain locations, or at high altitudes in others. USMNT players are accustomed to hostile crowds on the road.
But there is a difference between gaining an advantage based on where you play and actively putting players at risk. Given that two Honduras players had to be treated for hypothermia, Wednesday's game clearly veered into the latter.
Even players like the USMNT's Timothy Weah and Matt Turner didn't seem thrilled with the decision to play the game in Saint Paul, despite the three points:
And Honduras manager Hernan Dario Gomez didn't mince words, either before the game or after.
"It’s not normal," he told reporters before the game. "It's inconceivable that a power in every sense would bring you here to play a game and get a result. ... The game hasn't started, but I can't wait for it to end. Because it's not for enjoying, it's for suffering."
"Football is not possible in those conditions," he added after the contest.
