The United States versus Costa Rica football (soccer) match was held on 22 March 2013 at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. It was part of the second matchday of the final qualification round in CONCACAF for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Both teams reached the match after not winning as visitors on the first matchday; the United States lost in San Pedro Sula against Honduras and Costa Rica reached a draw in Panama City against Panama.
Under heavy snowfall, the United States won the match with a lone goal by Clint Dempsey. The unusual conditions of the match sparked outrage in Costa Rica, whose football federation's formal complaint was rejected by FIFA; in contrast, US players and commentators point out that both teams had to play in the same conditions. Subsequent reactions from Costa Rican fans saw them turning their backs on FIFA's Fair Play anthem and flag during Costa Rica's following home match, as well as receiving the American players with hostility for their game in San José months later.
American media refers to the match as Snow Clasico, a name subsequently evoked by MLS matches played under similar conditions. In contrast, the match is considered by Costa Rican media as a watershed moment, as the following months saw their national team qualify to the 2014 World Cup with five consecutive victories at home—including a 3–1 victory against the United States seen as a revenge—and achieve their best performance at a FIFA World Cup by reaching the quarter-finals.
Background Both teams reached the match without victories in the Hexagonal, as the first matchday saw the United States lose 2–1 in Honduran soil and Costa Rica draw 2–2 as visitors against Panama.
This was the first FIFA World Cup qualification match between both teams since their 2–2 draw at Washington's Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, in the last matchday of the Hexagonal for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In that game, a last minute equalizer by Jonathan Bornstein prevented Costa Rica from qualifying directly to the World Cup; instead, Honduras qualified, while Costa Rica was sent to an intercontinental play-off, which they lost against Uruguay. The United States Soccer Federation noted that "no goal resonated more in Costa Rica" than Bornstein's, who became "a national hero in Honduras." La Nación'''s Álvaro Murillo recounted the moments that led to the goal in a note titled "That damned corner [kick]".
Hours before the match in Colorado, another FIFA World Cup qualifier match in Europe between Northern Ireland and Russia, scheduled to be held at Windsor Park in Belfast, was suspended because of a heavy snowfall. The match was postponed to the next day, but because the conditions did not improve, it was postponed once more to be played in August.
About three hours before the match, La Nacións Juan José Herrera reported an increasing snowfall, and that despite forecasts of worsening conditions, the stadium authorities expressed that calling the match off was "very unlikely."
The match First half Sixteen minutes into the match, Clint Dempsey scored the winning goal, as he took advantage of a shot by Jozy Altidore that was deflected to Dempsey's position by Costa Rican defender Roy Miller. La Nacións Diego Ureña reported, at the end of the first half, that the field was threatening to the players' integrity, and that by the end of the 21st minute, after a missed chance by Costa Rican player Christian Bolaños, the game showed little actual football, highlighting the foul play and slips, which coincides with Jorge Luis Pinto's description that "football-wise, the match can only be evaluated from its earlier twenty or twenty-five minutes."
For Michael Bradley, the field during the first half "was still O.K. even though it was a little hard to see." La Nacións Ureña, once the match was finished, expressed that "the match actually lasted fifteen minutes and became a snowfight afterwards."
Second half Conditions worsened heavily during the second half. Bradley described that "as the snow accumulated in the second half, it was almost impossible to play." Around the fifty-fourth minute, referee Joel Aguilar halted the match momentarily, and gathered captains Clint Dempsey and Bryan Ruiz to discuss a possible suspension of the match with FIFA commissioner Victor Daniel. The United States' coach Jurgen Klinsmann ran to the pitch as he angrily expressed, in a "bad Spanish", his desire for the match to continue.
Eventually, the match resumed, as some of the personnel of the stadium used plows and shovels to remove the snow off the field demarcations. While recounting the minute-by-minute action of the match, Costa Rican newspaper Al Día indicated that the game "is being played under unsportsmanlike conditions," that "the ball is rolling very slowly," and "the snowfall is getting stronger." Costa Rica had a goal disallowed on the 70th minute as Michael Umaña was caught offside, while the United States were denied a penalty after Clint Dempsey was tripped on the box.
Details
GK 1Brad GuzanDF 3Omar GonzalezDF 7 DaMarcus BeasleyDF 20Geoff CameronDF 21 Clarence GoodsonMF 4Michael BradleyMF 13Jermaine Jones MF 19Graham Zusi FW 8Clint Dempsey (c)FW 9Herculez Gomez FW 17 Jozy AltidoreSubstitutes:GK 12 Nick RimandoGK 22 Sean JohnsonDF 2 Tony BeltranDF 14 Matt BeslerDF 15 Justin MorrowMF 5 Kyle Beckerman MF 6 Maurice Edu MF 10 Joe CoronaMF 11 Brek SheaMF 16 Sacha KljestanFW 18 Eddie Johnson FW 23 Terrence BoydManager: Jürgen Klinsmann
GK 1Keylor NavasDF 2Cristian Gamboa DF 3Giancarlo González DF 4Michael UmañaDF 8Bryan Oviedo DF 19Roy Miller MF 7Christian Bolaños MF 10Bryan Ruiz (c)MF 11Michael BarrantesMF 13Ariel RodríguezFW 9 Álvaro SaboríoSubstitutes:GK 18Patrick PembertonDF 6Juan Diego Madrigal DF 14Christopher MenesesDF 20Kendall WastonDF 21Keilor SotoMF 5Celso BorgesMF 15Osvaldo RodríguezMF 16Diego Calvo MF 17Yeltsin TejedaFW 12Joel Campbell FW 22Jairo ArrietaManager: Jorge Luis Pinto
Assistant referees: Juan Zumba (El Salvador) William Torres (El Salvador) Fourth official: Marlon Mejía (El Salvador)
Reactions Professional Members of the Costa Rican team were enraged by the conditions of the match and the decision to let it continue. Coach Jorge Luis Pinto called the match "an embarrassment to soccer" and "an insult." He also stated that referee Joel Aguilar "should be suspended, because he allowed this woesome spectacle to happen, and both Costa Rica and the people who attended the match to be insulted." Midfielder Michael Barrantes said "You could not see the lines, you could not see the ball, this could not be played." Forward Álvaro Saborío stated that "we know that, under normal conditions, they would not have beaten us," while goalkeeper Keylor Navas expressed his sadness for the decision, reprimanding the referee for "doing nothing" to stop the match. Eduardo Li, president of the Costa Rican Football Federation, reported that "when the match was suspended, we [the federative members] were taken to a meeting with FIFA officials, and the match was resumed at that precise moment."
Costa Rican players took to social media, particularly Twitter, to express their discomfort with the match. Joel Campbell tweeted "regarding last night... Well, it is clear that we could not play this way;" he also tweeted another picture of the match while comparing it to the X Games. Celso Borges described the match conditions as "vulgar" and "unbelievable." In a milder tone, captain Bryan Ruiz tweeted "I never thought that something like this could happen during a World Cup qualification match," Bryan Oviedo expressed that "it hurts to lose three points this way, because I was sure we could have won with the team we have" and "I hope FIFA could do something against this kind of injustices."
In contrast, and given their win, the Americans took the match in a lighter tone. Defender Geoff Cameron expressed the conditions were "the same for both teams" and, regarding the Costa Ricans' outrage, he said "both teams are playing in it, so I'm not sure what their issue would be." Brad Guzan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, and Herculez Gomez celebrated the victory and thanked the fans for their support, whereas Omar Gonzalez called the match "the craziest game I've ever played in my life!" It was also pointed out that Costa Rica had the opportunities to lodge a complaint with the officials during the game, including during the stoppage after halftime when both captains met with the referee and the coaches talked to him, but did not; the feeling was expressed that Costa Rica's complaints occurred only after the game because they had lost.
Jurgen Klinsmann, who defended the continuity of the match, expressed that "the match was equal for both teams and what the referee wanted by stopping the match was asking [the stadium personnel] to make the field lines visible, and those were cleared." He also said that "both teams would have liked to play on a big, green surface, but we had some fun anyway." Months later, he expressed that "We know that some people are angry because of the snow match, but it was not our fault. I did not ask God to send us snow." and that the United States would have won by more goals without snow.
Media The match also caused an outrage in Costa Rican media. In his arbitration analysis for Teletica Canal 7, former referee Ramón Luis Méndez was heavily critical of Joel Aguilar's handling of the match, particularly in his decision to resume it, as well as allowing personnel of the stadium to invade the pitch during the course of the game. Méndez asserted that, while neither the American goal nor the disallowed Costa Rican goal could come into questioning, the match "violated every rule in football" as the snow impaired the visibility of the field. CRHoy'''s Laura Salas questioned the legitimacy of FIFA's Fair Play campaign, and replicated Méndez declarations that "if there had been rules, this match would have been suspended." She also questioned why the match was resumed given the postponement of the match between Northern Ireland and Russia earlier that day due to similar conditions.
Cristian Williams, for La República, praised the effort displayed by the players to find the equalizer, but pointed its futility as "it was impossible to generate any good football on that pitch, worthy of snowskating rather than football," and also criticized Jorge Luis Pinto because his idea for the game was "not losing, rather than winning."
Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla expressed her discomfort with the match by tweeting "What a horror! They are demeaning this sport!" and "I feel pride for [the team's] effort, but shame for the match conditions."
After the match, former Costa Rican player Mauricio Montero was scathing against the Costa Rican Football Federation and their inability to do anything to stop the match, as he stated that "even a syndicate of snow cone vendors would be stronger than the FEDEFUTBOL."
Aftermath Following days The Costa Rican Football Federation submitted a protest letter to FIFA, citing four points: The physical integrity of the players was neglected. The stadium personnel invaded the pitch during the course of the match. The snow covered and concealed the pitch demarcations. The ball could not roll properly because of the thick layer of snow.
FIFA confirmed the receipt of the letter, and informed that they would analyze the claims. FIFA released a statement in which they dismissed the Costa Rican complain given that "the conditions established in the regulations for an official appeal have not been met by the Costa Rica FA."