A Costa Rica soccer federation official told domestic media that the protest would be made Saturday, Reuters reported. Costa Rica has 24 hours to file a written protest with FIFA.

Plows and shovels were used to clear the penalty areas, center circle and midfield stripe as snow got heavier, and a yellow-and-purple ball was used.

Ten minutes into the second half, Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto wanted referee Joel Aguilar of El Salvador and match commissioner Victor Daniel of Grenada to suspend the game, but U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann made a case for playing on.

Play continued after some heated discussion. Pinto was angry during and after the game.

“I asked them to stop. They should suspend the ref,” Pinto said. “It was an embarrassment. It was an insult to Costa Rica and people coming in here.”

The Denver area was bracing for 6 to 12 inches of snow early Saturday morning and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning shortly before the game ended, according to the Denver Post. The service expected the heaviest snow to fall to the north and east of Denver, where Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is located, the newspaper reported.

Pinto said the “legal conditions” for playing were not met, according to Reuters.

Visibility in the Denver area dropped from two miles at the end of the first half to a half-mile an hour later, according to the National Weather Service.

“You couldn’t see the lines. You couldn’t see the ball. You couldn’t play,” Costa Rica midfielder Michael Barrantes said.

Costa Rica players didn’t complain much during the game, but expressed frustration afterward.

“Honestly, it was robbery, a disgrace, I’ve never played a game in these conditions,” midfielder Cristian Bolanos told Reuters. “You couldn’t see the ball … if we had played without snow, we would have won, I am sure.”

One other World Cup qualifying match, between Northern Ireland and Russia, was postponed Friday — and again Saturday — because of snow in Belfast.

U.S. federation president Sunil Gulati said the referee made the right decision to continue playing Friday.

“Frankly, (stopping) would not have been to the advantage of either of the two teams, since they both play on Tuesday,” Gulati told reporters. “Obviously you worry about the safety of players and being able to see the ball. The referee and the match commissioner made the decision that the game could continue and I think it was the right decision.”

Gulati said the U.S. chose to play the game in Colorado in preparation for the altitude in Tuesday’s game in Mexico City, and not to put its Central American opponent at a disadvantage with uncomfortable weather.

Mexico City is about a half-mile higher above sea level than the mile-high conditions around Denver.

“If the thought is that we want to play Costa Rica in a situation where it could snow, then there are some places that maybe could have been better, like Boston or somewhere,” Gulati said, according to Reuters.

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Torres, a mega-deal striker now with one goal in 13 games, missed a straightforward effort after 35 minutes and sliced a second-half shot out for a throw-in in another impotent display from last season’s Champions League winners at the Generali Arena.

With a stalemate looming and the visiting fans’ ire for Benitez and Torres increasing, Oscar came on for Juan Mata and scored with his first involvement, netting neatly following a one-two with Eden Hazard.

The result, following last Saturday’s 4-1 Barclays Premier League defeat of Wigan, saw Chelsea claim back-to-back wins for the first time since December and keep a clean sheet for a second time in eight games.

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General manager George McPhee met with reporters for some 20 minutes at the team’s facility and cited penalties and goaltending as the major culprits that have caused the Capitals to lose nine of their first 11 games.

McPhee had positive words for new coach Adam Oates and franchise player Alex Ovechkin, even though the former two-time league MVP has yet to score a 5-on-5 goal this season.

“We’re disappointed with the way things have started. It’s not over. Nothing that a couple of wins won’t really help,” McPhee said. “But we’re going to make good decisions. We’re not going to do anything short term. We’re not going to blow anything up. We like the people here.”

The Capitals lost 5-2 to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and have yet to score four goals in a game this season. They have allowed an NHL-high 15 power play goals.

“We’re playing a good game and then we start taking penalties, and we take them in bunches,” McPhee said. “And no system, no coach, no team can survive that.”

McPhee called the rash of penalties “undisciplined” and “selfish” and said they resulted from a “lack of focus.” But he didn’t link those deficiencies to the leadership of Oates, a first-time NHL coach who had an abbreviated training camp because of the lockout-shortened season.

“I really like the coaches. I love what they’re doing,” McPhee said. “I like the way that we’re playing in terms of our system.”

The Capitals appeared to be set at goalie with rising stars Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth vying for playing time this season, but both have been disappointing so far.

“There is upside there with these goaltenders,” McPhee said. “But they can both play better and they know it. And it’s time for them to play.”

As for Ovechkin, McPhee is pleased with the high-priced forward who has switched this season from left wing to right. Ovechkin has only three goals — all on the power play — and was visibly seething after the loss to the Penguins.

“I really like the way Alex has played the last four games,” McPhee said. “Adam is convinced that he can get him playing the way that Ovi can play, and a couple of these games are the best that we’ve seen him in a long time. … He’s getting a lot more chances on the right side than the left. He’s a much more effective player. I like it a lot. You might disagree, but it looks a lot better to us.”

Owner Ted Leonsis also noted the struggles of the goaltending and the offense on his blog Friday and added: “We have many challenges as an organization, and as a team.”

“I’ve had some real good discussions with ownership over the last couple of days,” McPhee said. “They’re obviously not very happy. But they’ve been supportive. At times like this, ownership can pile on and make things worse or ownership can say, ‘How can we help? And what can we do to make it better?’ And it’s been the latter. … And I provided some options, and they provided some real clear direction, which was great.

“So that being said, if there’s something I can do to help the club out, I will. But I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

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