A season high crowd of 21,297 saw the New England Revolution draw with the Houston Dynamo.
It was a result that did nothing for the Revs playoff hopes.
With four games left New England are in sixth place with 41 points, leaving them one point out of the playoffs with four games to go.
With three of the next four games away from home (New York, Montreal, and Columbus) making the playoffs will be extremely difficult for New England now.
The weather is turning cold, the playoffs are beginning and that is the sign for the Houston Dynamo’s to start winning games.
A goal in each half by forward Will Bruin gave the Dynamo a 2-1 upset victory over the Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round match at Toyota Park on Wednesday night. It was the first road win in more than three months for the reigning Eastern Conference champions.
The No. 5-seeded Dynamo advance to meet top-seeded Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with the first leg to be played on Sunday afternoon at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
The Colorado Rapids and the Houston Dynamo play this Saturday in an important match up for both teams. Colorado (3-3) sits in first place in the MLS Western standings five points ahead of Houston. The Rapids’ solid start to the 2008 season can be attributed to many factors. Chief among them has been the play of Argentine defender Facundo Erpen. The versatile 24 year-old player can play any position along the backline for the Rapids. He joined Colorado in 2007 via trade after a stint with D.C. United. Prior to his arrival in the United States, he began his career playing in the Boca Juniors youth system in his native Argentina.
As mentioned in the Dynamo season preview a few weeks ago, all reports indicate that “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya will soon become part owner of the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo.
According to recently published reports coming out of Houston, both De La Hoya and his business partner, Gabriel Brener, are each purchasing 25% of the team, leaving current owner AEG with the remaining 50%. Both De La Hoya and Brener will have to plop down an estimated $10 million though to get the deal done. That shouldn’t be a problem for Oscar though as he is, after all, the richest boxer in the history of the sport.
The inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship is currently being held in Hawaii, and the MLS have sent its best team and most famous player to the islands to mark the occasion. Of course, the most famous player did not fare as well as the nation’s best club.
On Wednesday, the Dynamo thoroughly dominated Australia’s Sydney FC, while Japan’s Gamba Osaka dispatched the Galaxy in a yawner.
The Galaxy game would have been nearly unrecognizable as professional soccer if not for Becks. Granted, Donovan was unavailable, but Gullit’s bunch looked absolutely anemic offensively. Defensively, the young back line actually held pretty firm, but overall the Galaxy looked overmatched. It took one score from the Brazillian Bare in the third minute to put the game away.
2007 Record: 15-8-7 (2nd in West)
Coach: Dominic Kinnear (3rd Year)
Key Players: Brian Ching, Dwayne De Rosario, Wade Barrett, Pat Onstad
Key Pickups: Bobby Boswell (from D.C. United)
Key Losses: Joseph Ngwenya (to SK Austria Karnten), Nate Jacqua (to SCR Altach)
2008 Outlook: Excellent
Wow, did San Jose get screwed or what?
The Earthquakes return to the league this year, and have actually acquired a decent core of players for their (second) inaugural game. Meanwhile, the talent that San Jose used to root for has collected back to back MLS Cups. Same thing happened to poor, desperate Cleveland Browns fans who had Art Modell take that team to Baltimore, slap a new logo on their helmets then make them horrifyingly watch as the “Ravens” won the 2000 Super Bowl.
The Dynamo, known to some fans as “The Orange Crush”, may be in line to be “crushed” themselves by opponents in 2008 due to the impending loss of two forwards. Joseph Ngwenya, who scored the equalizer for Houston in last year’s MLS Cup victory, is headed to Austria to play for SK Austria Karnten. Meanwhile, Nate Jacqua also is currently in Europe testing the transfer waters and several reports have indicated he also intends to depart from the back-to-back champs.