Minnesota United's kickoff at Portland, Ore., on Saturday night was rescheduled not once but twice because of a heat wave that brought record-breaking high temperatures.
Minnesota United braced for extreme heat in Portland
Combined with a busy schedule, the Loons end the week in a taxed state.
June 26, 2021 at 11:55PM
The National Weather Service via the Associated Press called it the hottest day ever recorded there, 108 degrees, breaking the 107-degree mark recorded in 1965 and 1981.
An original 7:30 p.m. start Portland time was moved to 8 p.m. and then 8:30 p.m. to compensate for such heat.
That's 10:30 p.m. Central time and approaching bedtime for some, even on a weekend night.
Saturday's game was the Loons' third in eight days after they played in Dallas last Saturday and beat Austin FC 2-0 at Allianz Field on Wednesday.
They were scheduled to take a chartered flight home immediately after the game, arriving after sunrise on Sunday morning. They play San Jose on Saturday at home.
Loons coach Adrian Heath said he'd have a "really good chat with the guys to see where everybody is" on Saturday and then finalize his lineup.
"We have a couple decisions to make," he said.
He decided to start the same 11 in the same 4-3-2-1 formation he did on Wednesday. He again put striker Adrien Hunou up top with attackers Franco Fragapane, Emanuel Reynoso and Niko Hansen behind him.
The Loons have trained in mid-90s heat at their Blaine facility in recent weeks. Such temperatures are rare in the Pacific Northwest, and referee Rosendo Mendoza could designate regular water breaks during the game.
It was 97 degrees an hour before kickoff.
"It will be good," Loons veteran goalkeeper Tyler Miller said after Wednesday's game. "We're used to it. Whatever they throw out there — turf, grass, at full capacity — we'll go there and deal with the elements. They're playing the same weather that we are, so it really doesn't matter to me."
That was then
Loons veteran defender Michael Boxall is returning to the Olympic Games next month with his New Zealand national team, 13 years after he made his Olympic debut in Beijing.
He's 32 now. He was 19 then.
"I mean, what was I, 18 or 19 years old playing against [young Brazilian star] Ronaldinho?" Boxall asked. "Me still trying to figure out how to play the game and then you've got this Brazilian team who all were absolute freak with the ball at their feet. So I'd like to think I've come a long way since then."
New Zealand lost twice — including 5-0 to eventual bronze-medal winner Brazil — and drew once before it was eliminated from Group C play.
Boxall will be missed
Boxall will miss from as few as two to as many as seven MLS games while he is gone, depending on whether New Zealand advances out of its group and what length of quarantine he might have to do upon his return.
The team's captain Saturday, Boxall will be missed by a club Heath said was "reluctant" to let him leave.
"He is a very important player for us," Reynoso said in Spanish through a team translator. "He's a leader. He's a leader on the field and off, and that helps us a lot. He's always improving and doing things better. But we have good players on the side who will come in to play for him well.
"We hope it goes well for [him] in the Olympics. He deserves it with the level he's playing."
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
