The Zygo Soccer Report

Roosevelt Bar Allegedly Discriminates Against Dynamo Players, Dynamo Players Get Arrested

2012-02-08T07:29:00.000-06:00

On Saturday evening, Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric and midfielder Warren Creavalle were arrested outside of the Roosevelt Bar on Washington Avenue in the Heights. The various reports indicate that Deric and Creavalle as well as Will Bruin and Alex Dixon were denied entry and they believed that the grounds for said denial were based on the bar's apparent racist policies. The Houston Police Department ended up arresting Deric for assaulting a public servant and Creavalle for interfering with public duties.

HPD claims that Deric punched Ramon Perez, an off-duty Houston Police Officer who was working security at the Roosevelt. Knowing the propensity of law enforcement to circle the wagons whenever one of their own is involved in an incident, I for one don't really believe the HPD's claims of what all occurred outside the Roosevelt on Saturday.

Here are some well detailed news stories concerning the incident involving the Dynamo players and the Roosevelt's history of racial discrimination:

Two Dynamo players arrested after altercation - Houston Chronicle

Dynamo players arrested after scuffle outside Washington Avenue bar - KHOU

Video Shows HPD Shocking Dynamo Player - Fox 26

Attorney: ‘Sad’ that Tyler Deric has to go through this - Houston Chronicle

Deric and Creavalle Arrested: What We Know and a Couple Thoughts - Dynamo Theory

Report: Houston's Deric arrested for assaulting officer - MLS

Rappers Accuse Washington Avenue Club of Racism - Fox 26

Getting Past the Bouncer: Local nightclub door policies aren't always black and white - Houston Press

Yelp reviews of the Roosevelt Bar seem to have running theme concerning the club and racism.

Dozens of People Killed as Al-Masry & Al-Ahly Fans Flood Pitch in Egypt

2012-02-01T13:34:00.000-06:00

Tragic news is coming out of Egypt following today's match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in Port Said. After Al-Masry won the match, 3-1, its fans invaded the pitch, forcing Al-Ahly players to flee to the locker room, where they became trapped. Apparently, Al-Ahly Ultras took to the pitch too, and the long, violent history between the two clubs was extended as fans from the opposing clubs fought with each other, as well as with security forces. The violence was spurred by political conflict steaming from the events in Egypt last year.

The most recent report from the BBC places the number of dead at 73.

I'm sure that Al Jazeera will continue to update its stories as more information comes out.

In the wake of the Arab Spring and the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, professional football matches in Egypt have seen an uptick in violence as Ultras take advantage of the decreased amount of security in the stadiums.

Meanwhile, in Cairo a match between Al-Ismailiya and Zamalek was called off, either to mourn those who were killed or to prevent the violence from spreading. The decision to call off the match was not well received by fans who managed to set sections of the stadium on fire.

While today's events in Egypt are extreme, it does highlight the potential for danger whenever "fans" invade the pitch. While yesterday's pitch invasion at Goodison Park in Liverpool ended up proving harmless, the intent of the pitch invader was unknown when he exited the stands and the potential of a threat to players, coaches, officials, etc. existed. I'm not sure what more stadiums could do to increase the response time to pitch invaders, but now is a good time for the officials that run stadiums to take a hard look at the problem and see if they can come up with some new, reasonable solutions.

Updated at 9:00 pm:

Here's the latest from the New York Times - Riot in Egypt Kills More Than 70, and Many Blame Military

Handcuffed to a Goalpost at Goodison - With Video

2012-01-31T14:50:00.001-06:00

Photo via @TheKeogh

Late in the first half of today's Everton - Manchester City match at Goodison Park in Liverpool, an individual invaded the pitch and handcuffed himself to a goalpost. Not sure why this man was handcuffing himself to a goalpost, but it only took a few minutes to get some bolt cutters and remove the man from the pole.

Everton ended up winning the match, 1-0, with thanks to Landon Donovan who helped set up the goal.

Updated 2/1/2012

Turns out, the man who handcuffed himself to the goalpost at Goodison yesterday is John Foley, who was protesting Ryanair's staff training methods. Manchester City is the favorite team of Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair.

Dominic Kinnear, Geoff Cameron, & Eddie Robinson Featured on Dynamo All Access

2012-01-31T06:54:00.000-06:00

With the Houston Dynamo's preseason well under way, it's not surprising that last night's Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis on Sports Talk 790 in Houston featured interviews with Geoff Cameron, Dominic Kinnear, and Eddie Robinson. If you missed last night's show, you can catch up via the podcast:

Dynamo all access 1 30 2012 Hr 1: Geoff Cameron joins Glenn on the show to talk about the National team and his performance.

Dynamo all access 1 30 2012 Hr 2: Tony Dicicco, Dominic Kinnear and Eddie Robinson are this hour of Dynamo All Access

David Beckham Will Be In The Super Bowl - Well In A Super Bowl Ad

2012-01-30T21:17:00.000-06:00

In recent years, Swedish clothing retailer H&M has made strides in growing its brand in the United States, and it seems they've decided to take a major step in brand recognition by paying $3.5 million to air a commercial during Sunday's Super Bowl. What better way to make a splash in your first Super Bowl commercial than by having it star one of the world's most recognizable football players, David Beckham?

This looks like one commercial that the women (and some men) will be looking for on Sunday:

"Camp Cupcake" Wins Two

2012-01-26T07:47:00.000-06:00

Last night the US Soccer's "Camp Cupcake" Team followed up Saturday night's 1-0 win over Venezuela with a 1-0 win over Panama. I admit that the "Camp Cupcake" moniker is not my favorite for the annual US Soccer winter camp that primarily gives numerous MLS players and some European journeymen an extended audition for the US National Team, but I think it's important to use this moniker in light of the apparent "every match is a live or die match" attitude that seems to dominate the most vocal of the US Soccer fan base.

My favorite comment last night though came from outside that extreme portion of the US fan base, and is a comment that best sums up the whole concept of Camp Cupcake:

While it was nice that Ricardo Clark managed to pick up a late goal to beat Venezuela and while it was nice that the team managed to maintain the early lead that Graham Zusi's goal gave them against Panama, despite going down to ten men for over 35 minutes, the important thing about these matches and the winter camp in general is that they gave US Coach Jürgen Klinsmann and his coaching staff a rare opportunity to work directly with players who caught their eye and then evaluate these players when they're tossed into the semi-deep portion of the USMNT pool.

The primary thing that I take from the fact that both of these matches were victories is that there is finally a glimmer of potential USMNT roster depth. The Venezuela and Panama squads, while clearly not the best in the world, contain enough talent to provide tests for a large number of American players who, if called up for meaningful matches, would spend a substantial amount of time on the bench; therefore, the fact that these raggedy squads of players straight out of off season break managed to pull off these two, rather ugly, victories is a testament to the slow but surely improving world of American soccer.

Even if the team had lost both of these matches, I still think the 2012 Camp Cupcake would have been a success in that we are not getting a sense of the core second team, and potential future first team, that is developing in this new chapter of US Soccer history. Many US Soccer fans might not have recognized the team that played these last two matches, but in the next couple years some of the players on the 2012 Camp Cupcake team will become regular fixtures in US kits.

Houston Dynamo Reload for 2012 MLS Season

2012-01-18T07:43:00.000-06:00

The Houston Dynamo have always seemed to have a love-hate relationship with the MLS SuperDraft. In the franchise's early years in Houston, Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear seemed to have no qualms about trading away a top draft pick in order to obtain a player who filled a need or role right away for his squad. The result of this was that the Dynamo often picked late in the draft. Additionally, the Dynamo had no qualms about using draft picks on players like Marcus Tracy and Euan Holden, despite the fact that those players were clearly going to skip MLS for opportunities in Europe.

Despite this somewhat casual attitude towards the draft, the Houston Dynamo were fairly decent at picking up quality players like Corey Ashe, in 2007; Geoff Cameron, in 2008; and Danny Cruz, in 2009. After a rather dismal 2010 draft, the Dynamo seemed to take a new attitude towards the 2011 draft where they managed to pick up Will Bruin and Kofi Sarkodie.

This year the Dynamo showed signs that their 2011 approach was not a fluke, not only making serious use of the SuperDraft to pick up talent but also using the Supplemental Draft as a means of trying to address the team's weak spots, primarily, it's midfield and offense.

With their first pick of the 2012 draft, which was the 18th overall pick, the Dynamo drafted a forward, Colin Rolfe, who played at Louisville, the Big East conference champion. Then, in the second round, the Dynamo drafted midfielder Warren Creavalle, who played for the University of Central Florida.

In the 2012 Supplemental Draft the Houston Dynamo picked five players: Brian Ownby (forward); Karo Okiomah (forward), Eder Arreola (midfielder), Philip Aseweh (forward), and Daniel Roberts (home-grown midfielder).

The fact that the Dynamo are taking a look at four new forwards suggests that the team is doubtful that it will be able to trade for Brian Ching and has chosen to focus on trying to find the team's next generation of strikers. I know that many Dynamo fans really want to see Ching dressed in orange on May 12th when the new stadium opens, but fans need to ask themselves are they willing to ransom the team's future for one, aging player?

The Dynamo start preseason training camp on Monday January 23rd and have their first scrimmage on January 28th, against the Dynamo Academy. Additional preseason games in Houston include scrimmages against San Jac College (Feb. 1), HBU (Feb. 4), and SMU (Feb. 18). The Dynamo will spend a few weeks training in Carson, California, where they'll scrimmage against the Montreal Impact, L.A. Galaxy, Portland Timbers, and San Jose Earthquakes (in Venture). The Dynamo will close out the preseason by participating in the Disney Pro Classic in Orlando, where they'll play Sporting Kansas City, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the Montreal Impact.

The Houston Dynamo start their regular season on March 11th when they play Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Houston Texans Fans Acting Like Houston Dynamo Fans

2012-01-15T10:51:00.000-06:00

For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans have made it to the NFL Playoffs. On Saturday January 7, 2012, the Texans hosted their first ever Playoff game at Reliant Stadium, and prior to that game there was an indication that the Texans' front office had paid attention to the tifo displays that have occurred down the road at Robertson Stadium, former home of the Houston Dynamo, because, as evidenced by the above picture, they managed to orchestrate a tifo display worthy of any major football club in Europe. You can see the display starting about 30 seconds into the below video clip.

The Texans went on to win the game, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 31-10.

Today the Houston Texans will take on the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Division Playoffs at M&T Bank Stadium in Charm City. Yesterday, when the Texans arrived at their hotel in Baltimore they were surprised by the large amount of travelling fans on hand to greet them:

Travelling fans aren't a completely new concept in the NFL, when I lived in Wisconsin it was amazing to see how many people traveled to away Green Bay Packers games, but here in Houston, it wasn't until the Houston Dynamo came to town that the concept of a large contingent of travelling fans came into vogue in the Bayou City. The Dynamo have much more experience being a playoff team than the Texans do and they are used to having a good contingent of travelling fans on hand no matter where they play, especially in the playoffs.

I'm not saying that the fan treatment the Texans are getting would not have occurred but for the presence of the Houston Dynamo, after all, Texas is football country and Houston has been starved for NFL Playoffs since 1993, but there is a good amount of sports fan crossover in this city, with many local sports fans supporting all the professional teams, so there probably has been some cross-pollination between the Texans and Dynamo.

The Texans-Ravens game starts at Noon Houston time and will be aired on CBS.

Fabio Cannavaro Among Big Names Joining India's PLS

2012-01-14T10:03:00.001-06:00

Last year the Indian Football Association announced it would be launching Premier League Soccer in early 2012, with six franchises. The franchises are located in Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol, Midnapore, and Siliguri. When the league was announced, IFA also stated that each team would have one icon player and a maximum of three overseas players and one overseas player from Asia. At least six players on each team have to be of U-21 years and a maximum of 10 players can be from anywhere in India.

This weekend it has been confirmed that Italian player Fabio Cannavaro will be joining PLS as an icon player. The World Cup winner will be joining the likes of Robert Pires, Juan Pablo Sorin, Jay Jay Okacha, Hernan Crespo, and Robbie Fowler. Icon player contracts are only for a 10 week period.

The PLS season seven week season is set to start on January 25th.

MLS in Pop Culture - Are You There MetroStars?

2012-01-11T20:09:00.000-06:00

First, no, I did not watch NBC's new show "Are You There Chelsea," but someone I follow on FaceBook did watch it and she posted this screen capture, & in her defense, her caption was: "This stupid ass show got interesting."

Nike Soccer Commercials - Early 2012

2012-01-11T19:28:00.002-06:00

Seeing that it's 2012 and I've been getting a bunch of hits concerning Nike, time for some new Nike Soccer Commercials & Related Videos:

Hmmm, looks like Nike needs to get to work.

Houston Dynamo Defender Eddie Robinson Announces Retirement

2012-01-11T16:46:00.001-06:00

In his eleven seasons playing in MLS, Eddie Robinson has only played for one team. In 2001, Robinson signed on with the San Jose Earthquakes and he stayed with the team when it moved to Houston in 2006 and was rechristened as the Houston Dynamo. During his tenure, Robinson became a fan favorite for his rough, no nonsense style of defense, despite the fact that he was prone to injury and being carded.

Since Robinson is a defender, it's not surprising that he only scored 9 goals during his time in MLS; however, what is surprising is that in the only cap he received from the US National Team, he picked up a goal.

Although he was part of the original squad of players that made the move from San Jose to Houston, Eddie will not play in the new Houston Dynamo Stadium, because today he announced his retirement. The 33 year old is not leaving Houston though, he'll remain with the Dynamo organization and will work as a coach for the Dynamo Academy.

American Robbie Rogers Signs with Leeds United

2012-01-11T08:38:00.000-06:00

BBC News and Sky News are reporting that American Robbie Rogers has signed a deal with Leeds United of England's Championship. The 24 year old winger has been capped 18 times by the United States National Team and most recently played for the Columbus Crew in MLS. This isn't Rogers' first signing with a European club. In 2006/2007, Rogers was at Heerenveen in Holland, but did not see any playing time with the first team.

Leeds United, once a dominate team in England's top flight, has been trying to rebound from financial troubles that ultimately saw the team fall to the third tier of club football in England. In recent seasons, Leeds United has shown a strong desire of earning promotion back into the Premier League and almost managed to make it into the promotion playoffs last season. The team is currently in the top half of The Championship table, and it appears that coach Simon Grayson is hoping that Rogers will improve Leeds' offense and help get the team into solid shot at promotion.

The contract with Rogers, who has been at Elland Road on trial, will not be complete until a work permit is secured. According to Greg Seltzer at No Short Corners, the deal between Rogers and Leeds is for two and a half years.

Pre-Match Video Clip from Roma v. Chievo Verona

2012-01-11T04:32:00.001-06:00

After a rough start to the 2011/2012 Serie A Season, AS Roma is currently enjoying a 3 match winning streak (4 match unbeaten streak). This past Sunday, before the start of Roma's match with Chievo Verona, this video was aired in the Stadio Olimpico:

Today, Roma faces Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia. The last time Roma lost a match was to Fiorentina, 3-0, on December 4th. This Saturday, Roma heads to Sicily to play Catania.

[VIDEO] Celebrating a Sunderland Goal, With a Dog

2011-12-22T07:50:00.001-06:00

Sometimes EPL matches are worth watching for the randomness that occurs in the stands, such as in yesterday's match between Sunderland and Queen Park Rangers in which, if you watched closely, you would see a Sunderland fan celebrating Nicklas Bendtner's goal by standing and hugging/jumping with his dog. I guess it was a service dog, but, hard to say, but how else could you get your dog down to a first row seat. Sunderland went on to beat QPR 3-2.

Defend Yourself from a Pitch Invader, Get a Red Card

2011-12-22T07:36:00.001-06:00

During yesterday's Dutch League match between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, an Ajax fan invaded the pitch and went running towards AZ's keeper, Esteban Alvarado, who managed to trip the 19 year old invader and then kicked him for good measure. The match's referee then awarded a red card to Alvarado, who is from Costa Rica, an act that resulted in AZ abandoning the match. Ajax had been leading the match thanks to a goal from Gregory van der Wiel, and, as of the moment, it is not clear whether the match will be awarded to Ajax or if it will be replayed.

While I don't condone Alvarado's decision to kick the young Ajax fan while he was down, I can understand the emotions and level of testosterone that was running through Alvarado, and when that fight or flight instinct kicks in, things happen.

American striker, Jozy Altidore, who currently plays for AZ, showed his support for Esteban via his Twitter account. For more reaction to the incident, be sure to check out this post by Greg Seltzer over at No Short Corners.

Bieber Believes in Chelsea?

2011-12-15T08:01:00.001-06:00

If soccer becomes more popular with tween girls in the United States it won't be because of Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, or MLS, it'll be because of Justin Bieber using his fame to hang out with top international clubs - okay, that fits for when he hung out with Barcelona, considering the state of Chelsea fans they might argue my calling their club a "top international club." But I'll leave that debate for Chelsea fans to argue on twitter and in message boards, as for now, the young Mr. Selena Gomez spent some time hanging out at Stamford Bridge wit the likes of Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres, hmmm, wonder why John Terry wasn't allowed to hang out with the Bieber . . .

Speaking of Chelsea fans, this post is for you Messrs. Marcus Coleman & Johnathan Starling!

Naming Rights Deal for New Stadium done between Houston Dynamo & BBVA Compass

2011-12-14T08:12:00.000-06:00

This afternoon the Houston Dynamo will officially announce a stadium rights naming deal with BBVA Compass, which means that come May 12, 2012, the Houston Dynamo will play their first home game at BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston. Reports indicate that the deal between the Dynamo and BBVA Compass is for ten years at a cost of $20 million.

BBVA Compass is the United States branch of BBVA Grupo, an international bank with a focus on doing business in Latin countries such as Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Peru, Argentina, etc. In the United States, BBVA Compass is headquartered in Alabama and has 716 branches located throughout the Sunbelt, including Texas. BBVA is no stranger to supporting the beautiful game, it has been the named sponsor of the top flight league in Spain since 2008.

The official announcement, which will occur at 3:00 pm central time today, will be streamed live on the Houston Dynamo's website and Here.

United States 9 - 2 Germany: USA! USA! USA!

2011-12-06T20:22:00.001-06:00

On Sunday December 4th, the United States finally managed to best Germany on the pitch with a 9-2 victory that will surely be remembered by American soccer historians for centuries to come. I kid, I kid. Actually, on Sunday a group from the US Navy managed to beat a group from the German Navy at that lovely little paradise in Africa known as Djibouti.

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Former Captain of Brazil Sócrates Passes Away

2011-12-04T09:36:00.001-06:00

Today the football world, still morning the untimely death of Gary Speed, is now mourning former Brazil Captain Sócrates, who passed away as a result of an intestinal infection at the age of 57. Sócrates earned 60 caps with the Brazil national team between 1979 and 1986, and captained the team in the 1982 World Cup. In addition to his international play, Sócrates played professionally at Botafogo-SP, Corinthians, Flemngo, Santos, and Fiorentina.

Montreal Impact Draft Brian Ching in MLS Expansion Draft

2011-11-23T14:07:00.001-06:00

The Houston Dynamo took a gamble this week by leaving striker Brian Ching unprotected for today's expansion draft, hoping that Ching's age and salary would prevent the Montreal Impact from drafting him. Additionally, Brian Ching made it clear that if he was drafted by Montreal, he would retire.

We'll soon find out if Brian Ching's threat to retire was a bluff, because he was the Montreal Impact's first pick in today's expansion draft.

During the short question and answer portion of the draft, Jesse Marsch of the Impact, made a comment about other teams being interested in Ching, which suggests the Impact have already looked into the prospect of trading Ching.

Galaxy's Triumvirate Wins Los Angeles its Third MLS Cup

2011-11-21T06:51:00.001-06:00

On Sunday evening in a rainy Carson, California it seemed that all the stars had aligned for MLS, for AEG, for Don Garber, and for the Designated Player concept as David Beckham, Robbie Keane, and Landon Donovan teamed up to give the Los Angeles Galaxy the 2011 MLS Cup winning goal in the 72nd minute at the Home Depot Center.

Going into Sunday's Cup Final, featuring the Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo, all the focus was on the Galaxy, winner of the 2011 MLS Supporters Shield by picking up 67 points over the course of the 34 game regular season. After having lost the 2009 MLS Cup final to Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks, all the talk was about how it was the Galaxy's time to finally win the Cup again, having last won it in 2005. More pressure was added to the Galaxy by the fact that Beckham's contract is about to expire and winning the Cup would give a sheen of success to the Designated Player system and the so-called "Beckham Experiment."

The extended break between the Conference Finals and the MLS Cup Final seemed to give the advantage to the Galaxy, who also enjoyed home field advantage, by giving them time to get healthy and cooling the momentum of the Dynamo, who were riding a 9 match unbeaten streak into the Cup Final. However, the rainy weather and choppy pitch seemed to favor the Dynamo, a physical team that relies on set pieces and counters, over the Galaxy, a finesse team that relies on smooth passing and flow.

Each team dominated portions of the match, but it was clear that the Dynamo were suffering due to the absence of midfield Brad Davis. Without Davis' skill on deadballs and management of the midfield, Dynamo attacks tended to break down too easily and the team seemed to lose focus too easily. Meanwhile, the Galaxy, who only made one substitution during the course of the match, managed to keep their focus, keep their cool and finally found the one goal, the only goal needed to win the match and give the Galaxy franchise its third MLS Cup.

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Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Houston Dynamo Memories of Cups Past: Stuart Holden

2011-11-19T10:15:00.001-06:00

Since yesterday's post dealt with a former Houston Dynamo player who was a member of the squads that won the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups, a video, shown below, that I came across made me decide to do a post about another member of those Dynamo championship teams: Stuart Holden.

Holden, who grew up in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston, joined the Dynamo in 2006 and made his MLS debut in a 1-1 draw at New England Revolution on May 27th. Over the course of the season, Holden managed to see action in 13 matches. When the 2006 MLS Cup final against New England Revolution came down to penalty kicks, Holden converted the Dynamo's second penalty kick. Houston won that match on penalty kicks.

In 2007, Holden saw increased playing time, primarily as a result of an injury suffered by Brad Davis. Over the course of 17 matches, Holden picked up 3 goals and 5 assists for the Dynamo. Although Holden did not start in the 2007 MLS Cup final, he was substituted on in the 80th minute. In the end, the Dynamo beat New England Revolution, 2-1.

When Dwayne De Rosario departed the Dynamo after the 2008 season, the team looked to Holden to step into the midfield hole that resulted in the Dynamo lineup as a result of De Rosario's departure. Although the Dynamo did not make it back to the MLS Cup Final during the remainder of Holden's tenure, his time and development in Houston landed him a spot on the US National Team in the summer of 2009 and with the Bolton, of the English Premier League, in early 2010.

Currently, Holden is still recovering from an injury sustained in early 2011.

This is the video that set this post into motion, even though it does not cover Holden's time with the Dynamo:

Here's some highlights of Holden from his time with the Dynamo:

Dwayne De Rosario Named 2011 MLS MVP

2011-11-18T05:26:00.001-06:00

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 & The Road to the 2011 MLS Cup

2011-11-17T13:15:00.001-06:00

The 2011 MLS Cup Final at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California is only days away, and with the Houston Texans on a NFL bye week, the Dynamo have been feeling the love in their home city. On Wednesday evening a rally was held in Houston for the Dynamo before their departure to California. Meanwhile, in an effort to help ensure that the core Dynamo fans make it out to California for the final, Oscar De La Hoya, who is a part owner of the team, chartered a bus to take Dynamo supporters to Sunday's match.

Not surprisingly, most commentators have given the nod to Los Angeles Galaxy to win the match, but as their road to the Cup final has shown, the Dynamo should not be ignored.