USMNT: Beating Costa Rica in the Blizzard Match Will Live on in History

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 23, 2013

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Remember where you were, especially if you were there. No matter what you call it—the Mile High Whiteout, the Denver Deluge or just the Hexagonal Blizzard—the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying match that took place Friday night between the United States and Costa Rica is already settling into its spot in American soccer lore.

The match itself, which was played in surreal snowy conditions, ended in a 1-0 victory for the U.S., with stand-in captain Clint Dempsey scoring the 16th-minute winner. But the less that's said about the match itself, the better. It was sloppy, slushy and scattered.

And if you're from Costa Rica, it was a complete farce.

For Americans who follow this team through good times and bad, it was special. Regardless of what else happens in qualifying, we will all remember it.

It was a spectacle not for the sporting excellence but for the setting and the commemorative value. It was a game we will remember 20 years from now randomly and for the foggiest of reasons, none of which we'll understand. It was a thoroughly watchable struggle against the elements, and it had crossover mainstream allure, even if it didn't have the tuck rule or Leon Lett.

What it did have, for the U.S. at least, was pressure. Intense pressure, with a side order of infighting.

Before the snow, the U.S. was the only team in CONCACAF qualifying without a point from its first match. And before the snow, the locker room was apparently in disarray over anonymous quotes (via the Sporting News) and conspicuous finger-pointing.

But forget pressure. And for now at least, forget the tactics and the strategy, the personnel decisions and all the worries over a makeshift defense. This wasn't the beautiful game. This was backyard brawlin', and in its own way, it was as beautiful as it needed to be.

What's more, this was exactly what the U.S. needed.

After bombshell revelations from the pre...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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