Despite plenty of chatter before the game about a postponement and a stoppage mid-game, the match referee allowed the United States and Costa Rica to complete their World Cup qualifier in a blizzard on Friday night. The U.S. won the game, and the Ticos are unsurprisingly unhappy about the game. Their FA has promised to protest the result to FIFA on the grounds that the conditions were not legal because touchlines were not visible.
Costa Rica promises protest to FIFA after loss to USA in a blizzard
A team has 24 hours after a match to protest the game to FIFA, and it appears that Costa Rica will do just that after their loss to the United States.
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With the forecast calling for snow in the Denver area well into Saturday morning and Tuesday World Cup qualifiers on tap, the official decided that the game should go on as completed. He stopped the game in the 55th minute to clear the pitch, but despite further grumblings about a long delay or abandonment, the referee allowed the game to continue under protests from both sets of players.
The Costa Rican FA certainly has the point -- the conditions were farcical and the touchlines disappeared on a couple of occasions -- but their case won’t be helped by their players begging to continue the match while the snow was coming down in sheets during the second half.
This was amusing, though.
“Honestly, it was robbery, a disgrace, I’ve never played a game in these conditions,” said midfielder Cristian Bolanos ... “You couldn’t see the ball ... if we had played without snow, we would have won, I am sure,” he said.
Whatever you say, Cristian.
