Concacaf Cold Cup! Colorado Rapids Win Coldest Game Ever 2-1!

COMMERCE CITY – The Concacaf Cold Cup was one for the record books on Tuesday night at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park. In front of 1,811 frozen fans, the Colorado Rapids opened the 2025 season with a chilling classic against nemesis LAFC.

Wednesday’s game features possibly the coldest game in Rapids, state, and MLS team history. Kickoff temperature on the weather apps read 9 degrees Farenhiet throughout the game. Officially, the radar temperature was reported as 6°F, which would be the second coldest game between MLS teams ever. Colorado hosted the other two (2018 vs Toronto 3°F, 2019 vs Portland 14°F). Oli Larraz had hand warmers against his ears in the players’ tunnel at halftime.

The lineup was relatively unchanged from last year other than the center backs. Chris Armas had the team in the 4-2-3-1. Chido Awaziem and Ian Murphy made their Rapids debuts with Andreas Maxsø out with a lower body injury. Omir Fernandez started at right wing. The rest of the lineup was chalk.

LAFC had a new look with all the turnover from the offseason. Carlos Vela was out of the squad. Denis Bouanga and Olivier Giroud started in the front three.

Both teams struggled to create chances in the first half. Stats were officially 4-1 LAFC. Players had trouble being accurate due to the temperatures so anything that wasn’t a safe back pass to a wide open teammate was at risk of being off. Both defenses played to force a simple mistake to regain possession. The temperature made even a simple pass 10% less accurate which was enough when defending the box.

Colorado’s best chance might have been in the 4th minutes. Some good forward passing saw Cole Bassett find Fernandez at the top of the box for a shot right at the keeper. LAFC’s best look might have been in the 19th, but Bouanga shot right at Zack Steffen. Both teams had set pieces with good angles but they couldn’t clear the first defender. Fouls were a bit cynical with defenders making simple contact just to break up the play. There was just one yellow card, to Awaziem in the 40th. The ref even blew the whistle with the stadium clock at 44:11, claiming that clock was wrong. Get Concacaf’d.

Things opened up immediately in the second half. In the opening minute, Colorado went down the field with Kévin Cabral making a cut to try and shoot. An LAFC player came at him, making slight contact as he slid by. Cabral went down. The referee called a dive and gave the Frenchman a yellow card. After conversing with the linesman a penalty was awarded.

Mihailović stepped up to take the penalty. He rolled it down the middle as Hugo Lloris dove to his right. The team crowded up against the 100 or so C38 members in Section 117.

It should have been 2-0 in the 54th minute. Cabral dribbled through two defenders inside the six yard box but couldn’t get contact on the ball. Fernandez shot the loose ball into a defender’s body. Lloris pounced on the rebound.

Cole Bassett won a free kick upon the 80th minute. Djordje Mihailović stepped up and put the ball on a rope over the wall and to the top right corner of the goal. It might already be a candidate for Colorado’s goal of the year.

The Rapids held on, making a double substitution to switch to a 4-5-1. Sam Bassett subbed on in the 71st minute, making his debut. His first touch as a professional was a pass to his older brother Cole. So fitting.

LAFC threw numbers forward, with a lot of chances that ended in a pass that was just slightly off. They got their away goal in the 87th on a short corner. Aaron Long found space in the front of the box to head the ball in from Bouanga. There was a delay as the goal was looked at for a possible offsides.

The match took an ugly turn in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Reggie Cannon going down in agony in the box. He had to be helped off the field with a left leg injury. He could be heard screaming from the press box.

Colorado held out to secure the 2-1 win. The second leg will be Tuesday February 25 at BMO in Los Angeles, where Colorado are 0-7 all time with an aggregate score of 21-2.

Rapids debutants do well:

Three Rapids players made their club debuts. Both center backs plus Sam Bassett. All of them did well. Awaziem was physical. Both were good in the air and limited mistakes. They looked the part. Bassett the younger was brought on with the formation change. He brought the energy.

“I don’t think I ever got used to it. I was shivering the whole time,” Murphy told Burgundy Wave.

“I didn’t get many touches in the game but it was good to be out there with my brother. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make my debut. We were trying to stay hot with the heater on the bench. I had four minutes to warm up. It wasn’t easy,” Sam said.

Mihailović is off to a flight start:

So much for that bad ankle? Mihailović started the year off on a brace. His penalty was calm and collected. The free kick was as brilliant as the one he scored last year against LAFC. He’s scored in every home game he’s played against LAFC. And he was a dog in possession, fighting to create chances.

“It’s a gutsy, gritty victory against a good team. It was great to see Djordje Mihailović get on the score sheet. The free kick is terrific,” Armas said.

“I kicked it as hard as I could. Hoped for the best. It was impossible to play on this field. It’s frozen. There was talk before the game about not playing it, the health and safety of the players. This is why I feel like we shouldn’t have played this game. You see what happens to Reggie. That was the biggest concern for us,” Mihailović said.

This was Football Heritage. It should have been postponed.

Unofficially, this was the coldest Rapids and Colorado game ever. My phone said the temperature was zero Farenheit all night, which would break the kickoff temperature record set in the Communicaciones game in 2022. The officials reported the temperature as 6°F, the second coldest game ever. The first officially was 2018 CCL against Toronto FC at 3°F.

Tickets sold/distributed were 3,133 but the stadium announced it as 1,811. That’s likely people through the door. So almost half of the people who paid $15 for General Admission were no shows.

“There’s no way to prepare (for this weather). We accept the terms and make the best of it. We need to play better if we’re going to win next Tuesday,” the LAFC manager said.

Given Inter Miami and Sporting KC postponed their game with conditions about the same, this match shouldn’t have been played. It wasn’t safe for the players or spectators. Hopefully Cannon is ok. How is MLS thinking switching to a European calendar after watching this?

Personally, this game felt colder than any of the others, at least from the press box. This or CCL in 2022 are the coldest Rapids games ever all competitions.

Looking ahead to MLS opener and second leg at BMO Stadium:

Colorado got the job done first of all in getting the win. That away goal at the end was killer. A 2-0 lead probably allows them to manage the scoreline to try and get a 2-1 loss next week and they’re ok. Colorado’s historically gotten blown out at LAFC. A one goal lead isn’t safe. They’ll need their best performance ever there to advance.

“We crossed a litte too much instead of getting one more pass. Got Colorado locked more into their own box in the last 20 minutes. I’ll ask the boys to improve in those areas. I’m a little hesitant to come down too had on the boys,” Cherundolo said.

“Experience is everything. We definitely learn a lot from those two games (last year LAFC). These are the games that I get up the most for. It’ll be a good test for us,” Steffen said.

Before that, Colorado opens the MLS regular season Saturday at St. Louis CITY. CITY retooled over the last six months. Rapids did the double over them. Djordje got a hat trick the last time they played there. Hopefully they can recover quickly, rotate a bit, and get a result. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. MT.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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