Houston Dynamo fans will be a bit disappointed when they wake up this morning to discover that Brad Davis was not named the 2011 MLS MVP, but that disappointment will be tempered a bit since Dwayne De Rosario, once an important member of the Dynamo, is this season's MVP. In fact, the last time De Rosario won the MVP, in 2007, he was a member of the back-to-back MLS Cup winning Dynamo.
Although De Rosario, who played for Toronto, New York, and D.C. this past season, did not make it to the playoffs, by the numbers alone, he did beat out the other nominees for MVP, Brad Davis and Brek Shea. This season, De Rosario had 16 goals and 12 assists, while Davis had 4 goals and 16 assists and Shea had 11 goals and 4 assists.
Brek Shea's FC Dallas, which played in the 2010 MLS Cup Final, made it to the playoffs, but was knocked out by RedBull New York in the Wild Card. Meanwhile, Davis has been an important part of the Houston Dynamo's run to the 2011 MLS Cup Final, but he sustained an injury in the Eastern Conference Final and will not play for the Dynamo on Sunday.
The 2011 MLS Cup Final will take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Sunday November 20, 2011, at 8:00 pm central time. The match will be televised on ESPN and Galavision.
The Houston Dynamo will be facing the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2011 MLS Cup Final on Sunday November 20th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The match, which starts at 8:00 pm central time, will be broadcast on ESPN and Galavision.
For the third time six seasons the Houston Dynamo are headed to the MLS Cup Final. This season's trip was secured by the Dynamo on Sunday November 6th when they beat Sporting Kansas City at Livestrong Sporting Park 2-0 thanks to second half goals by Andre Hainault and Carlo Costly.
Coming into this afternoon's match, the Houston Dynamo were riding an 8 match unbeaten streak, but the last time they had lost a match was to Sporting Kansas City, a 3-0 defeat back on September 10th at Livestrong Sporting Park. That lost must not have been too far from the minds of the Dynamo and their coach, Dominic Kinnear, because the team started the match with an aggressive and physical approach, showing that they were there to win the match. But then the Dynamo got a huge scare in the 38th minute when midfielder, Brad Davis, had to be subbed out of the match with an injury. Brian Ching might be the captain of the Dynamo, but Davis has been the club's heart this season picking up 16 assists.
Jermaine Taylor was subbed in for Davis and during the remaining minutes of the first half the confidence that the Dynamo had at the beginning of the match was absent. The shakiness of the Houston squad was still there in the beginning minutes of the second half, but then, in the 52nd minute, Andre Hainault picked up the match's first goal, thanks to an assist from Taylor. The Dynamo had again found their confidence and managed to hold back a Kansas City squad desperately seeking an equalizer.
The Dynamo sealed up the match in the 87th minute when Carlo Costly, who had subbed in for Brian Ching in the 77th minute, scored the match's second goal and put Sporting Kansas City and its fans to sleep.
The MLS Cup Final will be held on Sunday November 20th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The match, which will be aired on Galavision and ESPN, starts at 8:00 pm central time.
The Houston Dynamo beat the Philadelphia Union on Thursday night, 1-0, to advance to the 2011 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinal. This episode of The Zygo Soccer Report features raw post-match audio from Stuart Holden, Chris Canetti, Bobby Boswell, Adam Moffat, Brad Davis, Brian Ching, and Dominic Kinnear.
The Dynamo play Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Final on Sunday November 6, 2011. The match starts at 4:30 p.m. central time and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.
I apologize for the quality of my intro audio, had to use different equipment to record that part, the rest of it is the high quality you find on previous podcasts.
Music in this episode from Girl in a Coma, Cage the Elephant, Dum Dum Girls, and The Black Kids.
On April 2, 2006, over 25,400 sports fans packed into Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus to see the first ever MLS match to be played in Houston. The match featured the newly minted Houston Dynamo, formerly the San Jose Earthquakes, hosting the Colorado Rapids and the star of the night was a Hawaiian forward named Brian Ching who scored the first goal and then three more in the 5-2 Dynamo victory. Therefore, it was fitting that it was Brian Ching who scored the last Dynamo goal, the last MLS goal, at Robertson Stadium, ensuring that the Dynamo would advance to the 2011 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Final.
On Thursday November 3, 2011, over 24,700 Houston soccer fans were on hand to watch the Houston Dynamo host the Philadelphia Union in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal and to say goodbye to Robertson Stadium. This past Sunday, the Dynamo picked up a 2-1 win at Philadelphia in the first leg of the semifinal. Brian Ching picked up his goal in first half stoppage time. Fittingly, Brad Davis picked up an assist on that goal. After 90 plus minutes, all the Dynamo needed was Ching's goal, giving them a 1-0 win in the second leg and a 3-1 aggregate victory in the MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals.
As you will hear in an upcoming podcast, the significance of Ching picking up the last Robertson Stadium goal was not lost on those connected to the Dynamo organization. Following the match, Chris Canetti, Stuart Holden, Dominic Kinnear, and several Dynamo players all reflected on the fact that Ching goals book end the franchise's Robertson Stadium era.
This season will mark the 4th time in six years that the Dynamo have advanced to their respective conference finals, the last time being in 2009 when they lost to the Los Angeles Galaxy in a controversial match. In the sporting landscape of Houston where the Astros are considered one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, the Rockets have been so poor that the NBA lockout barely seems to register as a concern, and the Texans are just now starting to have a serious chance at making the playoffs, the Houston Dynamo, with its MLS Cup championships in 2006 and 2007, have truly been a bright spot, bringing pride to the city. A new era in professional soccer in Houston will begin next season when the Dynamo move into their new downtown stadium, but one thing that never changes is the Dynamo's drive to win the MLS Cup.
The Dynamo don't have much time to relax and enjoy their victory because they'll soon have to travel to Kansas City where they'll face Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Final on Sunday November 6, 2011. The match starts at 4:30 p.m. central time and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.
Leg two of the MLS Eastern Conference Semifinals match-up between the Houston Dynamo and Philadelphia Union takes place at Robertson Stadium in Houston at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday November 3, 2011, and in preparation for the match, the City of Houston will be holding a Rally to support the Dynamo, who won the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups, on Wednesday November 2, 2011. The rally will be held at the City Hall Farmers Market between 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
The first leg of this semifinals tie took place on Sunday in Philadelphia, with the Houston Dynamo picking up a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Andre Hainault and Calen Carr. The team that picks up the most goals in the two match tie will face the winner of the Sporting Kansas City - Colorado Rapids Semifinals Series on Sunday November 6, 2011. Kansas City currently leads that series after beating Colorado, 2-0, on Sunday.
Tickets for Thursday's match are going fast, but there are still some available via the Houston Dynamo website and by calling 713-276-GOAL.
On Sunday October 16th's slate of early matches in Serie A, only one saw any goals, it was Bologna's 2-0 victory over Novara. Both of Bologna's goals came after Novara's keeper Samir Ujkani left the match in the 43rd minute thanks to the brutal collision shown in the video below. It appears that you can see one of Ujkani's teeth flying in the air after the collision.
The folks at the World Wide Leader have put together another soccer related This is Sportscenter commercial, this time it features the lovely Alex Morgan and the lovely Hope Solo.
Homegrown Houston Dynamo player, Alex Dixon, picks up a late goal giving the Dynamo a crucial 3-2 win over Real Salt Lake this past Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. Hear Alex Dixon and Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear talk to the press after the match:
Wednesday night's 2011 Copa America semifinal between Venezula & Paraguay ended up being decided on penalty kicks, which Paraguay won, 5-3, but then the situation went south quick as a brawl erupted on the pitch.
It was a roller coaster of a match in Dresden, Germany on Sunday July 10, 2011, when the United States and Brazil met in the quarterfinals of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
It was an own goal, put into the net by Daiane, that gave the United States an early lead:
Then in controversial confluence of events, Rachel Buehler picked up a red card in the 65th minute, but after Hope Solo stopped a penalty kick taken by Cristiane, but, after an encroachment call, the penalty was retaken, and converted, by Marta:
The match stayed tied at 1-1 as regulation came to end. Marta picked up her second goal of the match, giving Brazil the lead, early in extra time:
The score remained 2-1 in favor of Brazil as the clock ticked off 120 minutes, but it was Abby Wambach who saved the United States with this header:
Thanks to Wambach's header, the math was sent to penalty kicks:
The United States will face France in the semifinals on Wednesday.
The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup got off to interesting start Sunday night with Group A action at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. While there was a much ballyhooed attendance of over 64,000 at the United States v. Spain friendly at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, there was over 80,000 on hand to watch Costa Rica take on Cuba and Mexico play El Salvador. When the night was over, there 10 goals, 5 each in very one sided affairs.
The first match of Sunday's doubleheader featured Costa Rica taking on a hapless Cuba. So far, to the best of my knowledge, none of the Cuban players have defected yet, but after losing 5-0 to Costa Rica last night, some of them might be seriously considering defecting if for no other reason than to avoid further embarrassment in the tournament. Costa Rica picked up its first goal when Marcos Urena scored in the 6th minute and then it's second with an Alvaro Saborío goal in the 40th minute. Cuba's fate was sealed within the first two minutes of the second half as Urena picked up his second goal and Heiner Mora quickly followed up with a goal of his own. Costa Rica's last goal was picked up by Joel Campbell in the 70th minute.
The night's marquee match featured Mexico v. El Salvador. At the end of the first half, the score was 0-0 and some folks on Twitter were speculating as to whether Mexico was going to be a dominant team in this year's tournament. The speculation came to an abrupt end in the 55th minute when Efraín Juárez scored for Mexico and opened the floodgates. By the 60th minute, Mexico lead 3-0. Mexico's young forward, Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, showed that he doesn't need Wayne Rooney on the pitch with him in order to score, as he bagged a hat trick, the first hat trick for a Mexican National Team player since 1997.
With it's 5-0 win over El Salvador, Mexico made it clear that they're taking this tournament seriously and they should not be underestimated.
Tonight's action will feature Group B, as Jamaica takes on Grenada and Honduras battles Guatemala at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.
So What? Seriously, SO WHAT? What difference does this loss make in the greater scheme of things? None!
This afternoon at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts the Spanish National Team put on a soccer clinic, at least for the first half, against the United States National Team. During the first half, which saw US Coach Bob Bradley field a squad with little serious international experience, Spain scored three goals and came close to scoring several more. At halftime, the general consensus on Twitter was that the United States was lucky to have only given up three goals to the World Cup Champions.
In the second half, Bradley subbed in Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo, and Michael Bradley, among other players. Bringing in these three experienced players made a noticeable difference, not only did they help stop the goal bleeding, with one exception, the presence of these veterans enabled the US to finally have some serious chances of their own, though they did not manage to capitalize on any of those chances.
Spain's first half goals came from Santi Cazorla and Álvaro Arbeloa, while it was Fernando Torres who finally broke his scoring drought by picking up the only goal in the second half of the match.
Despite the claim that the US was taken to school by Spain, the US should not feel embarrassed by today's result because winning this match was clearly not on the agenda for them today. As mentioned above, Bob Bradley did not start several of his veterans and didn't even bother having the team captain, Carol Bocanegra, and one of his best players, Landon Donovan, suit up for the match. The one true veteran who got the start, Oguchi Onyewu, might as well have been relaxing on the pitch in a lawn chair. For Bob Bradley and his crew, today's goal wasn't winning, today's goal was surviving without any serious injuries.
While today's match was ostensibly a warm up for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which starts on Sunday, the US team would have benefited more from scrimmaging domestic club or college teams instead of playing Spain. The reality is that today's match was all about marketing and money.
Over 64,000 fans were in attendance at Gillette Stadium for this Saturday matinée match and, more importantly, the match was broadcast live not over ESPN2 but over The World Wide Leader's Flagship station, the infamous four letter network, ESPN. This match was a 90 minute infomercial for the Gold Cup, a tournament that matters this year because the winner will qualify for the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. The added bonus is that US Soccer, Soccer United Marketing, and ESPN most likely made a nice little profit off this match, thanks to scheduling one of the highest profile opponents possible.
Heads will not roll at Soccer House because of today's loss. Bob Bradley's job is not in jeopardy and none of the players who saw playing time today will lose a starting spot in the Gold Cup because of today's performance. No, the sad part about today is not that the US lost, it's that this match did nothing to improve the US National Team, with the exception of some younger players learning they can face Spain on the pitch and still be alive at the end of the match.
In general, I'm all for the US scheduling friendlies against superior teams like Spain, this is one of the best ways for a middling team like the US to improve itself in the long term, but I don't like the idea of scheduling a team like Spain right before an important tournament. The team benefits the most when it plays its starters against a superior team, that's not what happened today, and that wasn't going to happen when Bradley's focus is making sure his best players are fit for the impending Gold Cup.
Finally, while on paper, and even on video highlights (which you can watch below), today's loss looks horrible, soccer fans in the United States needn't worry about this loss hurting "the growth" of soccer in the United States. The fanbase for soccer in the United States is strong and isn't going any where; however, that strong fanbase is comprised mainly of people who are focused on European and Mexican football clubs. Even Travis Rodgers, the former producer for Jim Rome and current host of the daily afternoon show on Sporting News Radio, recently stated that Soccer Fan is no longer annoying because Soccer Fan has plenty of his own to talk to now and is no longer earnestly trying to convert non-soccer fans. Of course, the example Travis gave was that an EPL fan has plenty of EPL fans he can talk to about the EPL without bothering those who are ignorant of the EPL.
Today, the Jehovah Witness of soccer in the US is the primary US/MLS fan trying to convert the primary Europe/Mexico club fan. While today's loss won't help the cause of these Witnesses, it won't hurt it either. Most Europe/Mexico club fans are familiar with US/MLS and often watch, even attend matches and root for the US and/or an MLS side. These fans don't blindly gush over US/MLS, they recognize it as an improving product that still needs to grow more. Today's loss won't have much impact on the primary Europe/Mexico club fan, while it might reinforce his view, it's not going to make him stop paying whatever kind of attention he already gives to US/MLS.
In the end, the US will likely make it to the 2011 Gold Cup Final in Pasadena on June 25th, and the team will most likely face Mexico in that match. The result of that match will have a bigger and longer impact on US soccer than today's loss could ever have.
In an interesting 4 match stretch that started on May 14, 2011, when the Houston Dynamo played at Real Salt Lake, the Dynamo have only managed to pick up 3 points, but they remain near the top of the Eastern Conference table, currently tied for 3rd place with DC United. This episode includes post match audio from Saturday night's 2-2 draw with Dallas.
Featured music includes Raphael Saadiq, Son Volt, Fitz & The Tantrums, and Die Antwoord.
The full 2011 MLS schedule will be released on Thursday and the season opens in about 5 weeks. As you can see from this video, at least one MLS fan is ready for the 2011 season to start:
It was the Derby della Capitale on Wednesday January 19, 2011 as Roma hosted Lazio in the Coppa Italia. Considered one of the biggest and fiercest derbies in Europe, if not the world, Wednesday's match lived up to its billing as 90 minutes of fierce play saw Roma win their fourth straight derby.
The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico along with Ray Hudson's take on the Derby della Capitale are captured in the following two videos:
Considering the atmosphere in the stands, it's not surprising that the first half saw each side pick up yellow cards. Lazio's Stefan Radu picked up the first yellow card when he kicked Roma's Nicolás Burdisso in the face in the 18th minute.
It didn't take long for Roma's Daniele De Rossi to pick up a yellow card for a hard challenge on Lazio's Alvaro Gonzalez in the 29th minute.
There were some uneasy minutes late in the first half when Lazio's Giuseppe Biava went over the back of Roma's Adriano and almost landed on his head and neck.
Lazio dominated the first half with a vigorous attacking style of play and while they came close to scoring, it never happened and the half ended without any goals. Roma's Coach Claudio Ranieri made two substitutions during the half, putting Jeremy Menez on for Leandro Greco and Mirko Vucinic on for Adriano. Whether these substitutions were game planned by Ranieri or made on the fly, the presence of Menez and Vucinic completely altered Roma's style of play. From the start of the second half, Roma attacked Lazio with a fury that was completely absent during the first half.
Ranieri's half time adjustments paid off when Lazio's Stephan Lichtsteiner was called for a handball in the 52nd minute, setting up a penalty kick that was converted by Marco Borriello.
Roma's lead didn't last long though because in the 57th minute Juan tripped up Zarate in the box, setting the stage for a Lazio penalty kick that was made by Hernanes.
With the score tied at 1-1, both sides turned up the pressure looking for that one goal that would give them the lead and a spot in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals. In the 77th minute, Roma's Fabio Simplicio scored a goal that is better seen than described:
Sadly, the match lived up to its billing in unfortunate ways too. Prior to the match when rocks were thrown at both teams' buses and fan was stabbed during fighting between the teams' respective ultras.
Wednesday's victory means that Roma will face Juventus in the Quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia. Roma and Lazio will next meet each other on March 13th.
Here's some post match reaction from Roma after the jump:
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