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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The complete Champions League draw set the following quarterfinal matchups: Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray, Malaga vs. Borussia Dortmund, PSG vs. Barcelona and Bayern Munich vs. Juventus.

Barcelona, which came from 2-0 down in the first leg of the last round to beat AC Milan 4-2 on aggregate, will face its former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic is suspended for the first-leg match.

David Beckham, playing for Paris Saint-Germain, is the only English player left in the competition.

Bayern Munich’s reward for seeing off Arsenal is a meeting with Celtic’s conquerors Juventus, considered to be the most competitive matchup in the draw.

Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs, having achieved it previously with Porto and Inter Milan.

His side saw off Manchester United in the first knockout round and also qualified from a tough group comprising the domestic league champions of Spain, Germany, England and Holland.

Steve McManaman, a former Liverpool and Real midfielder who carried out the draw for UEFA, said: “Real have had to do it the hard way so far — they have beaten a lot of good teams.”

Galatasaray’s squad includes two former Mourinho favourites — ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and former Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

Unlike in previous seasons, UEFA did not also make the draw for the semifinal pairings at the same time. That draw will now take place next month.kept apart in the draw for the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal draw Friday.

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The Brazilian right back’s first-half effort set Sir Alex Ferguson’s side on course for a victory, which was wrapped up 10 minutes from time by veteran Ryan Giggs.

Only an unparalleled meltdown will now stop United winning a 20th league crown, while only the greatest of escapes will see QPR stave off relegation.

Harry Redknapp’s side is still seven points adrift of safety but has only 11 matches remaining, with the twin brother of QPR loanee Fabio doing a lot of the damage Saturday.

While the Rs full back was ineligible to face his parent club, Rafael put in a fine performance in west London and rifled home from distance in the 23rd minute.

Giggs made sure of a victory that was never really in doubt late on at Loftus Road, where the only blot on a perfect afternoon for United was a knock to Robin van Persie.

Proceedings got off to a slow start in west London, where it took 13 minutes for the first chance of note to be created.

After being caught on the edge of the box by Jose Bosingwa — making his first appearance since Dec. 8 — Nani connected with the resulting free kick, only to see his flicked header go wide.

Adel Taarabt fired a low shot just wide of David de Gea’s near post soon after but United was in control.

Julio Cesar had to be alert to tip a goalbound Javier Hernandez effort over the bar, with the Mexican meeting a Ashley Young cross with a superb improvised header.

Stephane Mbia soon gifted United another chance. The midfielder was dispossessed on the right flank by Nani, whose driven cross just evaded Hernandez.

United did not have to wait long for the opener, though, with Rafael thumping home in style after 23 minutes.

Taarabt lost possession in his own half and play developed down the right, allowing van Persie to wriggle free and hit a cross. Cesar parried the acute drive but the ball fell kindly for Rafael, who hammered a 25-yard strike into the top corner.

Jamie Mackie and Andros Townsend blazed over as QPR attempted to draw parity, before Taarabt struck tamely wide when a wide ball to Townsend would have been wiser.

When the Tottenham loanee did get the ball moments later, his long-range effort forced a corner from which Christopher Samba saw a header cleared off the line by Rafael.

The right back, playing superbly in Shepherds Bush, then helped United counter, sending a fine ball over the top to van Persie, who saw a brilliant left-footed volley denied in equally impressive fashion by Cesar.

It was the Netherlands international’s last contribution before he was replaced by Danny Welbeck, having appeared to pick up a hip complaint earlier in the half.

Despite his exit, United continued to dominate and almost immediately doubled its advantage as Giggs swung in a free kick for the unmarked Nemanja Vidic to flash a header inches wide.

It was the last moment of note in the first period, which ended with Bobby Zamora, managing a long-term hip injury, pulling up.

The former Fulham striker managed to return for the second half unlike Esteban Granero, who was replaced by Jermaine Jenas after picking up a knock.

United continued strongly after the break but QPR was putting up more of a fight, with Taarabt seeing penalty appeals waved away.

The visitors were still threatening, though, and Hernandez saw an effort saved easily by Cesar before he was replaced by Wayne Rooney, who has been suffering with a sinus problem this week.

QPR also made a change in the 61st minute, with Zamora limping off to be replaced by Loic Remy — a change that almost paid dividends straight away.

The January signing made himself space in the box to unleash a well-struck effort that de Gea head to be alert to stop, with Samba heading wide from the following corner.

United soon settled, though, and QPR captain Clint Hill did well to block a close-range strike by substitute Rooney, before Jenas put in an equally-impressively challenge to deny Welbeck.

The visitors did grab a second goal 10 minutes from time as Nani played a cute ball through to Giggs, whose strike from an acute angle beat Cesar to send the 3,081 visiting supporters into raptures.

Giggs saw a looped strike rattle the crossbar and a Samba header brushed the post late on, but there was to be no more goals despite the best efforts of both sides.

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Midfielder Valentin Eysseric put Nice ahead in the 11th minute from the penalty spot and Argentine centre-half Renato Civelli scored in the 85th after Reims left back Aissa Mandi was sent off midway through the second half.

Nice has lost only once in all competitions this year and is pressuring Marseille ahead of its trip to play bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

Second-place Lyon, which is three points behind PSG and two ahead of Marseille, hosts Lorient on Sunday.

Reims is just one point and one place above the relegation zone in 17th place.

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But Schalke scorer, midfielder Jermaine Jones, will miss the second leg of their last-16 tie on March 12 through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the competition — 10 minutes before scoring.

Jones called the yellow card “stupid” but said the team was “absolutely satisfied” with the result.

Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring against the run of play in the 12th, displaying great skill to lift the ball over Schalke captain Benedikt Hoewedes with the back of his heel before blasting the ball past Timo Hildebrand.

Jones was booked in the 35th after calling for a yellow card for an opponent, but finished off a swift counterattack to equalize before the interval. Jefferson Farfan ran onto Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s ball forward before playing it into the centre for the American to score emphatically.

“Whenever it comes to the crunch, we’re there,” said Hildebrand, referring to the club’s poor midseason form.

Huntelaar, who recovered from an eye injury to play, missed two good chances to improve Schalke’s record of just one win from its last 13 games across all competitions.

Galatasaray defender Dany Nounkeu cleared from the Dutchman in the first minute, when Jones drew a save from Fernando Muslera and Farfan played in the rebound.

A wayward pass from Schalke midfielder Roman Neustaedter led to the opening goal, with recent signings Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba both involved before Selcuk Inan found Burak Yilmaz to score his seventh goal of the competition.

Huntelaar then missed with the goal at his mercy after failing to connect with Hoewedes’ header at the far post.

Two minutes later, Hildebrand saved from Drogba and former Schalke midfielder Hamit Altintop struck the crossbar from the rebound.

Hildebrand was again called into action to deny Burak Yilmaz, before Jones drew the sides level.

Sneijder was taken off at halftime after failing to deal with Schalke’s forays down the right.

However, the visitors maintained most of the possession after the break, only to be let down by the final ball.

The 19-year-old Julian Draxler berated Huntelaar for failing to read his intentions as another pass went astray in the penalty area.

Huntelaar and Burak Yilmaz had chances to win at either end, but the Dutchman fired over before being replaced, while the impressive Turkey striker was narrowly wide of the far post.

Galatasaray midfielder Nordin Amrabat laid out the strategy for the return leg: “The formula for victory is very simple. We need to score and win (in Gelsenkirchen). But it won’t be an easy task.”

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The former England captain is set to make his debut for PSG after joining as a free agent in late January for five months.

“As big a star as Beckham is off the pitch … realistically he doesn’t put the fear of God into you anymore like he used to when he played in the Premier League,” Barton told a news conference. “No disrespect to him, but if he does manage to play for Paris (he) will probably not be the main concern for us as a defensive unit.”

Barton, who joined Marseille in late August on a one-year loan deal from Queens Park Rangers, said that big-spending PSG had plenty of gifted players and that “it would be naive of us to focus on David Beckham.”

Barton was equally emphatic about matters off the pitch involving his fellow Englishman.

“I don’t envy his position,” he said. “I don’t envy the amount of media intrusion he has in his life on a daily basis.”

Beckham is looking to win the championship with a fourth different club and in a fourth different country, after success at Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The 37-year-old midfielder made his last appearance for the Galaxy on Dec. 1.

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FIFA said it is now seeking tenders from companies that want their system to be used at the Confederations Cup in June and next year’s World Cup.

“Interested GLT companies will be invited to join an inspection visit to the Confederations Cup venues, currently scheduled for mid-March, with a final decision due to be confirmed in early April,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted on giving World Cup referees high-tech aids to make goal-line decisions after seeing England midfielder Frank Lampard have a clear goal denied against Germany at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Tuesday’s decision was expected once FIFA’s rule-making panel, known as IFAB, decided in July to approve goal-line technology at competitive matches after two systems passed extensive tests.

The camera-based Hawk-Eye system and GoalRef, which uses magnetic sensors, were used at the Club World Cup in Japan in December.

Those two systems were expected to compete for World Cup duty, although two competitors are making late entries in the contest.

FIFA said two German systems have completed tests and could soon be approved for use. The companies are not being formally identified until licensing is approved.

One system has passed tests devised for FIFA by a Zurich-based technical institute, and results for the second are expected this month, FIFA said.

Hawk-Eye is already used in tennis and cricket. The English company was bought by Sony Corp., a World Cup sponsor, during the testing process.

GoalRef uses magnetic sensors in the goalposts to track an “intelligent” ball, made by Danish company Select.

Both systems relay information within one second to the referee’s wristwatch. Both passed all pregame tests in Japan but were not called upon to determine a goal.

Before the 2010 World Cup, Blatter had long opposed taking the human element of decision-making from referees. He changed his stance after seeing match officials miss Lampard’s shot bounce off the crossbar and land fully over the goal line in Bloemfontein. England would have leveled at 2-2 before halftime but lost 4-1 in the second round.

Blatter said two days later that FIFA should reopen the debate, although video replay remains off-limits for judgment calls.

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The 34-year-old midfielder has been informed by Chelsea that his contract won’t be extended when it expires at the end of the season.

But having already netted 11 goals for Chelsea this season, Lampard will not be short of offers as he plots his next move.

He has been persistently linked with a move to the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Major League Soccer club David Beckham left in December.

“I would rather hope that we will see him still, if not in England, in Europe because of course that will make my task a bit easier,” Hodgson said Wednesday after England’s 2-1 victory over Brazil.

“If he does follow David and goes further afield, that complicate matters … he of course understands that, the further afield you go, the more problematic it does become for the media to follow you, and the national team coach to follow you.”

But Hodgson insists that playing club football outside Europe “doesn’t necessarily mean that your career ends,” with Lampard hoping to reach a century of England appearances after netting his 27th international goal in his 94th match on Wednesday.

“I know he is going to have a lot of offers if Chelsea do decide they are prepared to let him go,” Hodgson said.

He believes Lampard can be the next England player to top 100 and wants him to continue inspiring his country right through to the World Cup in Rio in 2014.

“He was excellent,” Hodgson said of Lampard’s match-winning performance. “I think he can (reach 100).”

Lampard is yet to comment on his future beyond Chelsea, where he has been since 2001, and the London club could still respond to fan anger and reverse the decision not to offer a new contract.

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Last-place Queens Park Rangers was the most active, signing defender Christopher Samba from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala for a reported club-record fee of 12 million pounds ($19 million) while Peter Crouch is on the list of strikers manager Harry Redknapp is actively chasing.

Meanwhile, Stoke remained hopeful Thursday of its proposed signing of United States winger Brek Shea from FC Dallas in the MLS as well as goalkeeper Jack Butland from Birmingham.

The Staffordshire club announced earlier this week that they had reached agreement with Dallas over the transfer of the 22-year-old Shea, who has passed a medical and took part in Stoke’s training session Thursday. Approval is pending an FA appeals hearing.

Norwich bought Argentine striker Luciano Becchio from Leeds, third-bottom Wigan brought in Austria defender Paul Scharner on loan from Hamburg and Fulham took Netherlands midfielder Urby Emanuelson from AC Milan on loan.

Aside from champion Manchester City, which sealed the transfer of Italy striker Mario Balotelli to Milan, England’s top teams were quiet on a slow day compared to previous January windows.

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The France midfielder was dismissed in the first half of the defending champions’ 4-3 Barclays Premier League win at Carrow Road for an alleged headbutt at Sebastien Bassong.

Manager Roberto Mancini indicated after the game on Saturday that an appeal would be lodged but, after further thought, the club have now announced there will not be a challenge.

“The Football Association has confirmed that Samir Nasri will serve a three-match suspension, following his red card during the 4-3 win at Norwich on Saturday. Nasri will now miss the New Year’s Day visit from Stoke City, the FA Cup tie with Watford (January 5) and the trip to Arsenal on January 13,” the club said in a statement.

Nasri reacted angrily to a challenge from Bassong in a manner that was seen as violent conduct. Mancini maintains the dismissal was harsh but conceded, as he met the media early on Monday to preview the Stoke game, an appeal may not succeed.

Appealing would have allowed Nasri to face Stoke as, due to the holiday season, a hearing would not have been heard until Wednesday. But by doing so the club would run the risk of having the ban extended if the appeal was deemed frivolous.

With Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure and Abdul Razak now due to depart for African Nations Cup duty with Ivory Coast after the Stoke game — rather than after Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Watford as first thought — it was considered too much of a gamble.

“We don’t know what can happen if we appeal. Usually they reject an appeal. This could be a problem because after this game we lose three players — Yaya, Kolo, Razak and we don’t want to lose another,” Mancini said.

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