Regardless of how the matter is presented to him, Christian Pulisic will not begin with this subject.
Sporting News tried in a 68-word question that might have been a bit extravagant in its flattery, discussing US Soccer’s decision to host two World Cup qualifiers at home next week in a region of The country is famous for its snow, ice and frost. temperatures at this time of year will affect “the brittleness, the flow, the beauty of the game when you’re at your best.”
In essence, Pulisic only needs 48 words to speak. “Oh my god no.”
Pulisic told SN: “I’m sure it’s going to be a nice stadium that we’re playing in. “It’s cold, but we’ll be ready for it, and we’ll be able to play.”
THAN: Who is more likely to start the USMNT than El Salvador?
The reality is that the acronym USMNT – which stands for the United States Men’s National Team – doesn’t really specify what kind of team this will happen. So it would make sense if Thursday night’s game in Columbus, Ohio, against El Salvador featured Phil Kessel, Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane. It will be even more difficult when the US closes this three-game window with one next Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn.
Accuweather’s forecast for the El Salvador game is 30 degrees, with a 65% chance the area around Lower.com Field will receive a third of an inch of snow. The high temperature of the game day against Honduras in St.Paul is predicted to be 15 degrees. Again: That’s the high.
Choosing to play the game in these regions is in part to ensure that the crowds are as focused on the United States as possible. In previous cycles, the USMNT had qualified in Washington (2001, vs. Honduras) and the New York area (2017, vs. Costa Rica), in which the American fans seemed outnumbered and without a doubt outnumbered. was engulfed by the opposing fans. And both of those games ended in USMNT defeat.
However, coach Gregg Berhalter has a squad that includes some of the best players the United States has put on the field, including Pulisic (key to Chelsea’s Champions League win last summer), midfielder Weston McKennie (“in” form of his life” with Juventus, says Berhalter. ) and defensive midfielder Tyler Adams (a regular starter with RB Leipzig). The coach has taken the talent and tried to build a more active, rational and reasonable attacking play.
So it seems counter-intuitive to be stranded with such a team on a tundra, even if the adjustment to conditions is likely to be much more dramatic for El Salvador’s players, more than half of them. some of them compete in their country’s domestic league. The temperature in San Salvador when the game against the US starts will be 77 degrees.
THAN: Update match schedule, standings and CONCACAF results
“It’s a mindset,” Berhalter told reporters this week. “I played in Germany when the temperature was minus -15 degrees Celsius, minus-20 degrees Celsius and I played in shorts. And the reason why I did that was an afterthought. It was an important issue. Once you’ve run, once you’ve sweated, I think you’re good to go.And for us, like all the times we went down to Central America, and we were playing in the humidity and the heat, and sometimes the fog and the high altitude, this is our chance to get an edge over our opponents, all of which are coming from the equator and it’s going to be really tough to deal with these conditions. They’ll take a little breather, and it’ll hit them like they’ve never been hit before.”
However, not all Americans who take this matter seriously are used to playing in these conditions. McKennie played several seasons in Germany, for Schalke, where temperatures will be in the 40s over the next few days. He is currently playing in Turin, where the temperature will be above 50 degrees three times in the next week. Right-back Sergino Dest plays for FC Barcelona, most will be in the 60s. There are players from MLS teams in Columbus (forward Gyasi Zardes) and New England (goalkeeper Matt Turner, midfielder Sebastian Lletget) ), but this tournament is in the majority of winter in America.
USMNT is in second place after the most recent qualifying window, one point behind leaders Canada but just one point ahead of third-placed Mexico and fourth-placed Panama. It was deemed essential for the Americans to win both of these home games – including Sunday’s visit to Canada in Hamilton, Ontario (24 degrees, sleet that day) – because the window The last in March includes road games in Mexico and Costa Rica.
Suffice to say, if the opposition doesn’t freeze, in Ohio and Minnesota, if the US can’t play quickly and flexibly because of field conditions, it’s decided to play winter games rather than in cities like Portland. , Ore. (peaks at 47 on Thursday), or Nashville, Tenn. (49), which could lead to fierce criticism from USMNT fans, keep in mind that Columbus has hosted more World Cup qualifiers than any other US city (11) and also where there are more wins (8, including 1 against Costa Rica in October).
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A few minutes after Pulisic launched his first weather inquiry into the stratosphere, another reporter, perhaps uninterested at the time, perhaps uninvolved, asked about the challenge that Columbus night would provide. grant.
“Same as before,” Pulisic said. “It’s cold, but it won’t affect us too much. We all played in cold weather, and we will prepare for the game.”
He blew his chance to declare, “The cold never bothers me anyway,” but it was the only chance he could miss for the next seven days.
