World Cup qualifier at Allianz Field stirs frigid memories for St. Paul's Tony Sanneh

St. Paul's own Tony Sanneh has played for the U.S. men's national team in the cold, at home, in a World Cup qualifier before.

That was back in a 2-0 victory over Mexico in February 2001 in a cold Columbus, Ohio.

That was the original "Dos a Cero" victory – "Two to Zero" — over their formidable rivals and a game Sanneh won't forget because of the outcome and the 29-degree temperature at kickoff.

On Wednesday, he will serve as an ambassador for the U.S. team in its World Cup qualifier with temperatures expected in the single digits and a blustery wind that could create a dangerous wind-chill conditions.

The U.S. scheduled its two home games in this current three-game qualifying window to give it a home-country advantage over tropical teams El Salvador in Columbus last week and now Honduras on Wednesday at Allianz Field.

But having played in weather not nearly as severe as predicted for Wednesday, Sanneh said the cold could be an equalizer instead against an opponent that is winless in CONCACAF qualifying.

Honduras is 0-7-3 and eliminated from advancing to March qualifiers that will finalize the top three countries headed to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.

The U.S. is currently second in a tiebreaker with Mexico. Both teams are four points behind first-place Canada.

A victory Wednesday would put the U.S. team in a very favorable position entering March's final three qualifiers. A loss or draw could be devastating.

"We're a better team than Honduras," Sanneh said. "The elements actually could even it out and make it harder to play soccer. Honduras is a warm climate even in the middle of the winter. They haven't won any games and hopefully they're going to come here and not want to play in cold weather with nothing really to play for. I hope they relax and we move a lot and stay warm and put on an exciting show for our fans."

Sanneh is a former Minnesota Thunder, founding MLS player, USMNT player and the son of a social worker who now leads his youth Sanneh Foundation with a staff of 75 in St. Paul.

He wore short sleeves in that 29-degree 2001 qualifier against Mexico and now calls himself an "idiot" for doing so.

Sanneh was an ambassador when the U.S. team played at Allianz Field in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2019.

But that was in June, in a Minnesota summer when Sanneh organized a team-building cooking night with the U.S. team and local restauranteur David Fhima and other local chefs.

This time, it's a ceremonial role that Sanneh calls "meeting folks and shaking hands, being an advocate, a role model, someone who inspires the troops."

Those troops are a U.S. team coached by Gregg Berhalter, who played with Sanneh on the 2002 World Cup team.

Sanneh grew up in St. Paul never dreaming a day like Wednesday would come, no matter the weather.

"Hopefully the crowd is so good that we don't have play here only when it's freezing."