• Houston's inaugural game at BBVA Compass Stadium
• Former Dynamo legend De Rosario returns with DC United
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The 2006-2007 MLS Championship banners are unveiled (with just a hint of comedic struggle that the cameras mercifully cut away from) to complete the final touches for the stadium and we're ready for the teams to emerge.
Products I didn't know I needed and driving rock as we await the teams. Just time to glance over at the other afternoon's game where Montreal are beating an ever more hapless Galaxy 1-0 - scoring after just 8 minutes through Davy Arnaud. Just over half an hour gone in that one.
Cameras showing footage of the pillars honoring Dynamo legends, that are a key architectural feature of the new stadium.
We're being reminded that Ching scored the first ever goal for the franchise at Dynamo's previous home Robertson Stadium (he actually got 4, with 4 assists from...De Rosario). He scored the last goal at the stadium too - are the stars lined up for him to score first at their new home? Or will the other team legend (also honored on one of those pillars) spoil the party?
Getting close to kick off now as the NBC Sports Network coverage kicks in - the Unflappable Arlo White™ is in front of a very orange background extolling the virtues of the stadium's downtown location.
Speaking of new homes, we always mention Arlo White - and he and the NBCSN team have had a very solid start to leading the MLS tv coverage for the first time this season.
DeRo got a generous welcome from the home fans in the warm up by the way. Let's see if he's feeling equally generous after kick off...
Houston Dynamo:
Hall; Taylor, Boswell, Cameron, Hainault; Carr, Moffat, Watson, Davis; Ching (C), Bruin
DC United: Hamid; Russell, McDonald, Woolard, Korb; Cruz, Kitchen, De Rosario (c), Najar; Santos, Pontius
As expected, the preferred Dynamo front line of Ching and Bruin return for the first game in "The House that Ching built".
Najar looks to have been pushed up from defense to a more familiar wing position, while Santos and Pontius lead the if-it-aint-broke-don't-fix-it attack - with that man DeRo hovering just behind them.
Since the Red Bulls went on their recent mini streak with a back four with a total of something like -3 games between them, it's been all the rage. DC started their last game with 3 out of 4 of their backline playing out of position – including winger Andy Najar getting a start at right back (where he briefly played in his Academy years). United promptly kept a clean sheet for the first time in six games.
Houston of course aren't new to this converting players business, and aside from the contribution of David last season, a big part of their late season form was the conversion of Geoff Cameron from a midfielder to a center back, where he stabilized the back four and proved to be a revelation in that position. With that in mind, team news in a moment…
If you've not already done so, do yourself a favor and read Tom Dart's article on the new Houston stadium and some great context on what it represents for the team and the league. Then go to your inbox, where I've emailed you my notes for this game, hit Select All and Delete, since Tom's done a far better job than I could and has saved me valuable time to hover over my keyboard trying to remember where the Return key is…
Here at the Guardian, we are obviously at the forefront of modernity, as anyone currently bashing an F5 key (in the hope that some better commentary might miraculously appear if they just persist...) will tell you. And one only has to look at my blogging surroundings of Parker Field at ParkerPlex Park (brought to you in association with I Can't Believe it's not Ribs), to know that our surroundings are part of a holistic design for life that inspires us forward into a brave new future. It's also why our prose is cramped and all our metaphors smell of cats.
So imagine our excitement at the prospect of greeting yet another new stadium to MLS this afternoon, as Houston Dynamo finally finish their road trip and move into the brand spanking new BBVA Compass Stadium - where if the 2010 form of the Red Bulls and the 2011 form of Sporting Kansas City in their new stadiums is anything to go by, the Dynamo will now proceed to sweep the Eastern Conference before them (at least until Montreal's Saputo Stadium finishes its overhaul this summer, if this logic is to be believed). Sporting KC had a ten game road trip before Livestrong Park opened last summer, winning only one of them, before a backlog of games at their new home propelled them to win the regular season conference title - though they finally fell in the play-offs to this afternoon's hosts. Houston did a little better on their road trip to start this season - starting with two tight wins at Chivas and San Jose and picking up a few draws along the way, though they're winless in five and are coming off a 1-0 defeat to the Red Bulls in midweek.
But to be in the middle of the standings, with games in hand and having played all your games on the road, is a position Dominic Kinnear would gladly have taken at the start of the season - as last season showed, he's a coach who understands that the MLS season is all about still being in contention when the play-offs come around and peaking at the right time. His Dynamo side rode the set piece plays of Brad Davis all the way to the MLS Cup Final last season - though their eventual loss to the Galaxy was slightly anti-climactic, not only for the defeat, but for the loss of Davis, to injury, in the Conference Final. This season, the returning Brian Ching and Will Bruin have led the front line with more nuisance value than consistent firepower - the Dynamo have generally competed in each game without looking like they have the pace and multi-dimensionality to blow anyone away. Anyway, Ching and Bruin were both rested for the New York game - the former, Mr Dynamo, would not want to miss this stadium opening for anything.
Another Houston Dynamo legend returns with the opposition today, as Dwayne De Rosario arrives to face the team he ended his mini-scoring drought against just a few weeks ago at RFK Stadium. That game was a thrilling 3-2 victory for DC, with both Dynamo goals coming from Bruin and Maicon Santos, a player who seems to have found the right team and the right form at the right time, scoring twice for DC.
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Santos has been a revelation this season, alongside Chris Pontius, who has found his own rich vein of scoring form. DeRo has been a constant threat and supplier all season, but now that he has added goals back into the mix and the designated player Hamdi Salihi has started scoring too, after a muted start, there should be no shortage of threat up front from this DC side (even without the set piece service of the impressive rookie DeLeon - out with a hamstring strain). If we get another game like the last one we could be in for a treat.
Team news, and more on the new stadium, shortly, but for now, get cracking on your predictions, thoughts, and architectural name-dropping and send them to @KidWeil or GuardianUSsportslive@gmail.com and stay with me for the game itself. Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
