The United States have been slammed by opponents Honduras after they were made to play in freezing -19C weather during their 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Minnesota, with the decision blasted as 'inconceivable'.
Goals from Weston McKennie, Walker Zimmerman and Chelsea's Christian Pulisic wrapped up a confident win from Gregg Berhalter's men - but the game was overshadowed by outrage from the visitors over the chilling conditions - with some players forced off with hypothermia and others requiring IV drips.
Head coach Hernan Dario Gomez led the protests - even before the game - slamming the decision to host the game in Minnesota. He said that it was 'not normal' that his players, used to temperatures reaching 30C that was recorded in their country last week, should have to play in a location that is 'not for enjoying, it's for suffering'.
'It's inconceivable that a power in every sense would bring you here to play a game and get a result,' Gomez said ahead of kick-off. 'The game hasn't started, but I can't wait for it to end. Because it's not for enjoying, it's for suffering.'
But there was no chance of the game being called off - as the USA went cruised into a 2-0 lead at the break. Gomez then had to withdraw goalkeeper Luis Lopez and forward Romell Quioto, both understood to be suffering with hypothermia.
Pulisic added a third to compound Honduras' woes - but the real pain that was inflicted was after full time in the dressing room, with some members of Gomez' side needing an IV drip. It prompted a furious response from the coach.
'Soccer shouldn't be endured this way. I've got all my players getting treatment, some players getting an IV,' he vented.
But USA coach Berhalter defended the decision to play the game in Minnesota - pointing out that his own side have travelled to sweltering countries and have suffered various issues from the heat.
'When we go down to those countries and it's 90 degrees and 90 per cent dew point and it's unbearable humidity and guys are getting dehydrated and cramping up and getting heat exhaustion, that's the nature of our competition,' he said.
'When we schedule this game in this location, you have to go by average temperatures, daily average temperatures, and it was the best guess.
'We want to minimise travel. We knew we're gonna be playing in cold weather in two of the games and we figured to do it in the third game as well, instead of switching climates.
'The cold spell came through and it's something we can't control but all we can do once that happens is try to mitigate the risk by having warm weather gear and going out there and competing and we did that.'
USA defender Zimmerman - who netted the second goal of the night - believes Honduras were simply not up for the game in the freezing temperatures and it helped them take control of the game.
'I don't think they wanted any part of that tonight,' he said. 'You could just tell coming out for warm ups, their starting 11 not coming out right after the half.
'As soon as we got that first goal, and especially the second goal, we felt like we were in really good form and in control of the game.'