Could the USA's decision to host soccer World Cup qualifiers in cold weather backfire?

Mike DeCourcy

Could the USA's decision to host soccer World Cup qualifiers in cold weather backfire? image

No matter how the matter was presented to him, Christian Pulisic was not going to warm up to the subject.

Sporting News tried in a 68-word question that might have been a bit extravagant in its flattery, discussing whether U.S. Soccer's decision to play its two home World Cup qualifiers in the next week in a region of the country known for snow, ice and frigid temperatures at this time of year would compromise "the crispness, the flow, the beauty of the game when you guys are at your best."

Pulisic needed only 48 words to say, in essence. "Hell, no."

"I'm sure it's going to be a nice field that we're playing on," Pulisic told SN. "It's cold, but we're going to be ready for it, and we'll be able to play."

MORE: Who is likely to start for USMNT vs. El Salvador?

It's a fact the acronym USMNT — which stands for United States Men's National Team — doesn't actually specify what sort of team that happens to be. So it might make sense if Thursday night's game in Columbus, Ohio, against El Salvador included the likes of Phil Kessel, Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane. It'll be even more apropos when the U.S. closes this three-game window with a game next Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn.

The Accuweather forecast for kickoff against El Salvador is 30 degrees, with a 65 percent chance that the area around Lower.com Field will receive one-third of an inch of snow. The high temperature on game day against Honduras in St. Paul is projected to be 15 degrees. Again: That's the high.

Choosing to play games in these areas is partly about assuring the crowd will be as U.S.-centric as possible. In past cycles, the USMNT has played qualifiers in Washington (2001, vs. Honduras) and the New York area (2017, vs. Costa Rica) in which American fans were apparently outnumbered and unquestionably were drowned out by the opposing fans. And both of those games ended in USMNT defeat.

However, coach Gregg Berhalter has a roster comprising the most skilled players the United States has fielded, including Pulisic (a key to Chelsea's Champions League victory last summer), midfielder Weston McKennie ("in the form of his life" with Juventus, Berhalter said) and defensive midfielder Tyler Adams (starting regularly with RB Leipzig). The coach has taken the talent on hand and attempted to build a more proactive, streamlined, attacking brand of play.

So it does seem counterintuitive to strand such a team on a tundra, even if the adjustment to the conditions is likely to be far more dramatic for the El Salvador players, more than half of whom compete in their country's domestic league. The temperature in San Salvador when the game against the U.S. kicks off will be 77 degrees.

MORE: Updated CONCACAF schedule, standings & results

"It's a mindset," Berhalter told reporters this week. "I played in Germany when it was minus-15 Celsius, minus-20 Celsius, and I played in short sleeves. And the reason why I did that is it's a mindset. It's mind over matter. Once you get running, once you get sweating, I think you're good to go. And for us, just as all the times we go down to Central America, and we're playing in the humidity and the heat, and sometimes the smog and altitude at times, this is an opportunity for us to gain an advantage on our opponents. They're all coming from the equator, and it's going to be really difficult for them to deal with these conditions. They're going to take a couple breaths in, and it's going to hit them like they've never been hit before."

Not all the Americans who figure to matter, though, are accustomed to playing in these conditions. McKennie played multiple seasons in Germany, for Schalke, where the temperature will be in the 40s the next few days. He now plays in Turin, where it will be above 50 degrees three times in the next week. Right back Sergino Dest plays for FC Barcelona, which will be mostly in the 60s. There are players from MLS teams in Columbus (forward Gyasi Zardes) and New England (goalkeeper Matt Turner, midfielder Sebastian Lletget), but the league is in its offseason for the majority of the American winter.

The USMNT sits in second place after the most recent qualifying window, a point behind leader Canada but only a point ahead of third-place Mexico and fourth-place Panama. It is considered to be essential the Americans win both of these home games — which are wrapped around a visit Sunday to Canada in Hamilton, Ontario (24 degrees, snow showers that day) — because the final window in March includes road games at Mexico and Costa Rica.

If the opposition doesn't freeze, so to speak, in Ohio and Minnesota, if the U.S. is not able to play as quickly and fluidly because of field conditions, the decision to play winter games rather than in cities such as Portland, Ore. (high of 47 on Thursday), or Nashville, Tenn. (49), might lead to overwhelming criticism among the USMNT's fans, never mind that Columbus has been the venue for more World Cup qualifiers than any other American city (11) and also is the site of more victories (eight, including one against Costa Rica in October).

MORE: Which teams have qualified to the World Cup?

A few minutes after Pulisic booted the first weather question into the stratosphere, another reporter, perhaps not paying attention at that moment, perhaps not yet on the line, asked about the challenge the Columbus night would provide.

"Same as before," Pulisic said. "It's cold, but it's not going to affect us too much. We've all played in cold weather, and we'll be prepared for the game."

He blew his opportunity to declare, "The cold never bothered me anyway," but that's the only chance he can afford to miss in the next seven days.

Mike DeCourcy

Mike DeCourcy Photo

Mike DeCourcy has been the college basketball columnist at The Sporting News since 1995. Starting with newspapers in Pittsburgh, Memphis and Cincinnati, he has written about the game for 35 years and covered 32 Final Fours. He is a member of the United States Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and is a studio analyst at the Big Ten Network and NCAA Tournament Bracket analyst for Fox Sports. He also writes frequently for TSN about soccer and the NFL. Mike was born in Pittsburgh, raised there during the City of Champions decade and graduated from Point Park University.