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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Clint Dempsey put the U.S. ahead in the 36th minute but the Americans, using a new-look defense that featured Omar Gonzalez and Timmy Chandler, gave up the lead when Juan Carlos Garcia tied the score with a bicycle kick in the 40th at San Pedro Sula.

Bengston, who plays for Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, scored the winner when defender Geoff Cameron and goalkeeper Tim Howard both went for a pass by Maynor Figueroa to Oscar Boniek Garcia. That allowed Garcia to tap the ball across to Bengston for a shot into an open net, and Gonzalez was too late to challenge him.

“Overall, there were too many mistakes done and too many players today just didn’t reach their usual potential,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “They stayed behind their own game and therefore, it’s really difficult coming away with a win here if you’re not having everybody 100 percent at their limits.”

Playing without Landon Donovan, a veteran of three World Cups who is unsure whether to continue his career, the 28th-ranked U.S. was under pressure for much of the match. No. 59 Honduras had the better chances, forcing Howard into several difficult saves.

Gonzalez had a chance to redeem himself, getting his head on a corner kick by Graham Zusi in the final seconds of stoppage time. But his shot from the 6-yard box sailed well above the crossbar.

The U.S., which had been 12-3-3 against Honduras, lost its final-round opener for the first time in five games since the “hexagonal” format was adopted in qualifying for the 1998 tournament. The Americans are seeking their seventh straight tip to soccer’s showcase.

Klinsmann used his three substitutes in the early part of the second half, inserting Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan and Zusi for Danny Williams, Eddie Johnson and Jermaine Jones.

“We had problems closing down the passing lanes, also on the outsides throughout the whole first half and also in the second half,” Klinsmann said. “I think with Maurice Edu, things kind of calmed down a bit. He cleaned more up. He played simple balls. We kept more possession. That’s what we were asking for.”

The general rule in qualifying is to win home games and pick up points on the road. The top three nations in the six-team group represent North and Central America and the Caribbean at next year’s tournament in Brazil, and the No. 4 country advances to a playoff for another berth, likely against New Zealand.

In openers later Wednesday, Jamaica earned a point with a scorless draw in Mexico and Costa Rica overcame a 2-goal deficit to draw in Panama. Qualifying resumes next month when the U.S. hosts Costa Rica on March 22 at Commerce City, Colo., then plays four days later at Mexico.

Gonzalez replaced captain Carlos Bocanegra in central defense, and Chandler was in the starting lineup to play right back in his competitive debut for the Americans — tying the German-American to the U.S. team.

The game marked somewhat of a generational change for the U.S. defense, with Chandler (22), Gonzalez (24), Cameron (27) and Fabian Johnson (25) on the backline. The Americans had played 16 consecutive qualifiers since 2008 with at least one 30-year-old defender in the starting lineup.

Chandler and Gonzalez, the 6-foot-4 center back from the Los Angeles Galaxy, had never played together before.

The U.S. went ahead when Jozy Altidore played the ball to Jones, who flicked the ball over the defense. In full stride, Dempsey volleyed the ball with his right foot past goalkeeper Noel Valladares from 8 yards. With his 31st goal in 92 appearances, Dempsey moved past Brian McBride into sole possession of third place on the U.S. career scoring list. Dempsey has six of the Americans’ 12 goals in qualifying for 2014.

But for the fourth straight road qualifier, the U.S. scored first only to give up the lead — on a play strung together by three defenders.

Oscar Boniek Garcia’s corner kick went all the way to the opposite side of the field, bounced four times and was played back to the center by Victor Bernandez after no American chased the ball down. Figueroa chested the pass up to Juan Carlos Garcia, who with his back to the goal scored on an overhead kick from 10 yards that went to Howard’s right, leaving the goalkeeper bent over in shock. It was Garcia’s first goal in 18 international appearances.

Honduras appeared for a moment to take the lead in the 56th minute, but Carlo Costly was ruled offside when he slotted the ball past Howard.

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