With “De Ro” gone, Dynamo girds for new MLS season, Champions League quarters

February 17, 2009

Despite a late start in preseason training and a significant personnel change, Houston Dynamo players and coaches say they are ready and eager for the quarterfinal CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.

Houston and Mexico’s Atlante will be the first sides to meet, beginning their two-leg series February 24 at Robertson Stadium in Houston. The return leg is a week later in Cancun.

The Dynamo began training February 2, later than most fellow Major League Soccer clubs, and much later than most teams remaining sides in the Champions League.

Most Mexican teams started in January or earlier following a short winter break after the fall Apertura. Atlante already has played five matches in the Mexican Clausura (the spring season). The Dynamo, meanwhile, have eased into their preseason training with just four friendlies so far. The match against Atlante will represent the Dynamo’s first competitive contest since clinching a Champions League quarterfinal spot with a 1-0 win over CD Luis Angel Firpo on November 26.

“We know Atlante has a little bit of an advantage, because they’ve played some games already,” Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson said. “But we’ll be ready.”

They may be ready, but they’ll be without offensive engine Dwayne De Rosario, who was traded in January to Toronto during the MLS offseason. Stuart Holden, a well-regarded young attacker, will fill the void. Still, Houston is bound to miss De Rosario, who played a big part in steering his side through Champions League group play last summer and fall.

De Rosario’s 88th-minute, 30-meter strike gave his team a 2-1 win over Panama’s San Francisco FC during Group B play. And he supplied the corner kick that Brian Ching headed in for that quarterfinal-clinching win over Firpo in November.

Houston has a term of redemption ahead in MLS; the Dynamo was heavily favored to eliminate the New York Red Bulls in last year’s MLS playoffs, but fell in perhaps the most shocking post-season upset in league history. Houston players are focused on doing more this year in Major League Soccer, but manager Dominic Kinnear promised that Champions League performance wouldn’t suffer because of it.

“I’m taking it seriously, and I know the players are, too,” Kinnear said. As for the late start, he said thought the players needed a bit of an extended break after playing in 50 matches last year.

“We’ve had some player movement, but not a ton,” the manager said. “Everything kind of sustains itself. We’ve got the same coaching staff, the same formation. There’s no drastic changes in how we do things. Everybody knows what to expect from the first day. So I don’t think it was necessary to start earlier.”

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