Saturday, July 12, 2008

Dynamo/Atlante running blog

Can anyone explain what it is about the Superliga that makes rock-solid MLS penalty kick takers falter? LD last year, and now Jaime Moreno. Anyway, it would have been a wild way for DC to tie it up, but instead, I'm waiting for the Dynamo to show something against Atlante now.
There's a shot of the Dynamo fans and their tifo before the game starts. Looking good, Houston. I especially like the orange Che-style Brian Ching flags.
The teams walk in, oddly enough, from opposite corners. Foh, a blunder already - they announce the US anthem, but the Mexican one plays instead. Atlante's players grin. Hey, there's a little black escort kid in front of the Atlante players doing the Mexican salute. Wonder where he learned that - or if he's Mexican. What's funny is that the Latino kids escorting the team aren't doing the salute - he's the only one.
Now the U.S. anthem plays. Most of the players and their escort kids have hands over hearts for that.
Kickoff!
2 - The announcers say that Sven Goran Erickson's assistant is at the game, watching players.
3 - Onstad catches a ball in the box, starts the Dynamo counter.
6 - I can hear Dynamo fan chants and their band.
7 - Clarke is down, but no call. The Dynamo are acting like the home team so far - pressing the issue.
8 - CK for the Dynamo, but the service misses everyone in the box and goes out for a GK.
10 - David fouls and gives up a dangerous FK to Atlante. It's served in quite well, but surprisingly, no one gets on to the ball. Out for a GK.
16 - Weird play. A very late offside call on the Dynamo there.
17 - Announcers are apoplectic as Ianni's late tackle garners a yellow.
18 - Atlante shot on goal wasn't as close as the announcers excitedly moan over.
19 - Rico Clark gets fouled, but the announcers give him little sympathy as they mention his kick on Ruiz. They'll never forget that.
20 - GOAL! DeRo gets up, not that high, but gets enough of his head on it to change the direction of the FK into the goal. Kind of flukey, but it went in. 1-0 Houston.
21 - GOAL! Brian Mullan got stuffed going in alone on goal, but the Dynamo persisted in an attack and Stu Holdon wound up poking it in a goalmouth scramble, off a short pass from Geoff Cameron. 2-0 Houston.
27 - The announcers are saying how much more motivated the MLS players seem compared to the Mexican league players.
29 - GOAL! Or Golazo as the announcers say. The Dynamo get a ton of time on the ball, and Wade Barret sizes things up at the corner of the box before sending in a little chip pass to a cutting Holden, who redirects the ball with his foot, roofing the ball into the net. 3-0 Houston is absolutely beating down Atlante.
31 - "This defense is a disaster" say the announcers, talking about Atlante.
36 - Atlante is already making subs. Guerrero comes in for Navarro.
39 - CK for Atlante, but they do nothing with it.
41 - DeRo chases down a long pass, goes far post against a single defender. Misses, but not by too much.
42 - Why did Mullan cut his hair? Now he, Barret and Waibel are hard to differentiate on long shots.
44 - DeRo and Munoz go at it. DeRo got pushed going for a header, DeRo claps him on the shoulder hard to turn him around, Munoz cuffs him on the side of the head, DeRo pushes back - refs are trying to break it up, teammates are shoving, even Kinnear is all the way down there, way out of his coaches box.
45 - Both players get red cards. Well, that bites for the Dynamo. No DeRo versus Chivas in their next match.
45 + - FK for Atlante, gets through the wall but is wide of goal.
Halftime
Well, it seems that the most Atlante can do is ruin the Dynamo's chances of winning their next match. DeRo should have let it go - sure Munoz was frustrated and playing rough, but when you're 3-0 up, you need to play smart and think of the next game.
The TeleFutura crew have not updated their graphics. They have one of a spinning SuperLiga trophy, but the club shields superimposed on it are of the teams that participated last year, including the LA Galaxy.
46 - I can't hear the game - it's been interrupted by a flash flood warning for LA. Poor Atlante had no warning of the tidal wave of goals Houston hit them with.
49 - Ianni gives up a FK, then the ball goes out for a CK for Atlante. It leads to an outside shot, but it's not dangerous.
54 - Atlante in the box, but Clark gets a toe to the shot and it's out for a corner, which Houston clears.
55 - GOAL! Mullan! He makes a great run into the box and Cameron threads the needle of two covering defenders to get him the ball for the short put-away. 4-0 Dynamo.
57 - Atlante coach Cruz is on his feet, looking upset.
59 - CK Atlante. They want a consolation goal in the worst way. They aren't getting it here, though. Dynamo clear.
64 - Well, so far the MLS champs are the bullies of the game, stomping down their Mexican league competition. The Dynamo had a harder time in the Open Cup - losing to a USL team, the Battery. Course, Onstad wasn't in goal.
65 - Corey Ashe comes in for Davis. Good move. His speed should give Atlante fits. The crowd is trying to get the wave started, but the config of the stadium makes it difficult. There are weird gaps in the crowd.
70- CK for Houston - header is wide.
71 - The announcers make a good point about the Mexican squads who came in early, playing friendlies versus MLS teams to warm up for SuperLiga. Chivas played the Red Bulls in Arizona, for example. They lost there, but they beat DC United today when it mattered. Atlante made no such preparations, and the announcers are saying it really shows.
75 - CK for Atlante. Zamora takes it - the Dynamo clear. Carraccio is getting ready to come in for the Dynamo
76 - Ianni is down, clutching his knee.
78 - Ashe crosses into the box twice, but to no avail. Mullan comes out for Carraccio, getting a big round of applause.
79 - Arreola comes in for Atlante.
84 - Atlante are pretty hopeless on CK. Another one comes to nada.
85 - Chabala is in for Waibel, I think.
86 - Dynamo are playing at half-speed now, and Atlante still can't make anything happen. They were just knocked out early and have been reeling this whole match.
88 - Dynamo knocking the ball around really well, still controlling the pace.
89 - Announcers name Stuey the Man of the Match. Two goals, why not?
90 - Cameron with an angled shot - wide. Atlante gave up ages ago. Dynamo fans celebrate in the stands.
Final whistle. Comprehensive victory for the Dynamo. The announcers pick the third goal, Stuey's second, as the play of the game. "He has to arrive with force and confidence to hit that perfectly for the goal," they say.
Cruz says his team failed to close down Dynamo's attacks, gave them far too much respect and room to make plays. No kidding.
Well, well, Day 1 of SuperLiga is one close MLS loss, and one absolute whipping by an MLS team. Not too shabby.


6 comments:

jag said...

2 - The announcers say that Sven Goran Erickson is at the game, watching players, I guess.
The commentators during the DC game said that he was at RFK.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Erickson was in D.C.; his assistant, Backe, is in Houston. That what Fernando Shwartz said...

A.C. said...

Yeah, sorry, I misunderstood. I was only half listening, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Wow Atlante looks horrible. They don't look anything like the team that won the Clausura in 2007.

P said...

Cuento breve:

Mr. Firglebinkle me pidió que le cuide la casa hasta que regrese. Me dio un manojo de llaves y me advirtió: nunca utilices la llave dorada, nunca abras la puerta trasera. Cuando volvió, le devolví las llaves intactas.

Arelcao Akleos said...

That, Palbo, was a waste of time. Even for a deliberately irrelevant post.