Tonight we face CSD Municipal in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions cup, Municipal are a rich and storied club located in Guatemala and is the nation’s most successful team formed in 1936 and winning a mind blowing 25 league titles, this is going to be a tough game but we will need to get into scoring positions fast and kill in the game in the first 45 if we want to be in good position for the 2nd leg in Houston.

I see us playing something of a 4-4-2, with this line up:

Onstad
Waibel-Robinson-Boswell-Barrett

Ching-Caraccio

I may be wrong with the starting of Caraccio up front but I think Dominic will start him just because he has South American experience. I think this guy is the real deal and after hearing about his level of play against D.C. United I would start hurting in the pants if I was the defense up against him.

The atmosphere is supposed to be electric at the Estadio Mateo Flores, seating 30,000 and Municipal being the biggest club in area I foresee us having some problems with the heckling but overall this will be a cracker to watch.

My prediction : CSD Municipal 1-2 Houston Dynamo

Comes on at 10:00 PM Central Time on Fox Soccer Channel

Oscar De La Hoya will be purchasing 50 % of the Dynamo from AEG.

If you read the article it states that Oscar will own 25% and his partners managing group will own the other 25%, I can understand AEG selling off this stake somewhat….but if you want to sell a team wouldn’t you want to get rid of your whole stake? I have heard rumors and nothing more on this and now some concrete evidence comes out I can’t decide if this is a good thing or bad thing, what do you the loyal fan think? Here is a good interview that Glenn Davis did with Oscar here.

Interesting little article on Oregon and Dynamo product Nate Jaqua can be found on the front page of socceramerica.com. (Having some trouble linking this article)

In about 2 weeks time our boys in orange will be marching towards the 08′ CONCACAF Champions cup, The winner of this tournament gets a birth into spot in this years FIFA club world cup, I personally would love to see the Dynamo competing in Japan this december hell..I would even like to see DC United there. All the US played games will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel (Some on tape delayed ).

Here is a quick run down of the schedule:

Quarterfinals
Leg 1
QF 1 – CD Motagua (Hon) vs. Pachuca CF (Mex)
11 March Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino – 8p – FSC 11p
QF 2 – Harbour View (Jam) vs. DC United (USA)
12 March Harbour View Stadium, Kinston – 8p – FSC 8p
QF 4 – CSD Municipal (Gua) vs. Houston Dynamo (USA)
12 March Estadio Mateo Flores – 10p – FSC 10p
QF 3 – Atlante FC (Mex) vs. Deportivo Saprissa (CR)
13 March Estadio Andres Quintana Roo, Cancun – 11p – FSC 11p

Leg 2
QF 2 – DC United (USA) vs. Harbour View (Jam)
18 March RFK Stadium – 7:30p – FSC 7:30p
QF 4 – Houston Dynamo (USA) vs. CSD Municipal (Gua)
19 March Robertson Stadium – 8:30p – FSC 8:30p
QF 1 – Pachuca CF (Mex) vs. CD Motagua (Hon)
19 March Estadio Hidalgo, Pachuca – 11p – FSC 11p
QF 3 – Deportivo Saprissa (CR) vs. Atlante FC (Mex)
20 March Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San Jose – 10p – FSC 12a

Semifinals
Leg 1
SF 1Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 2
01 April
SF 2Winner QF 4 vs. Winner QF 3
02 April

Leg 2
SF 1Winner QF 2 vs. Winner QF 1
08 April
SF 2Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4
09 April

Finals
Leg 1Winner SF 2 vs. Winner SF 1
23 April
Leg 2Winner SF 1 vs. Winner SF 2
30 April
(Thanks to My Soccer Blog for the info.)

It looks like we have somehwat of a tough schedule but I wouldn’t hit the panic button quite yet, CSD Municipal are a storied club I think the Dynamo are just going to be the better team, Although it does look like DC have the easier of the teams.

A quote from Patrick:

“It’s not the championships that make it worthwhile, but the relationships, the community involvement. It’s about sacrificing for each other. When people sacrifice for each other, it’s one of the most beautiful things in life. The joy of watching your teammates succeed.”

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Expansion Draft takes place on Wednesday, so we’ll soon know if any of these players are snapped up by San Jose. (It’s a max of one player per team, so as soon as one player is picked, the others are safe.)

A highlight:

No, Craig Waibel’s tears don’t cure cancer — a takeoff on one of the most popular Chuck Norris “facts,” which have become an Internet phenomenon. Waibel can’t divide by zero, kill two stones with one bird or count to infinity. No way did he invent pain or sue NBC, claiming Law and Order were trademarked names for his left and right legs.

It’s a great read.

Some of the highlights: Onstad and Mullan share the MVP award, Ngwenya gets the Golden Boot, Robinson is Defender of the Year, and Waibel is Humanitarian. Cool stuff.

While this is a blow for Houston, it certainly doesn’t rule them out of contention. Jaqua can fill in as the post-up guy and Ngwenya’s speed and dribbling ability make him dangerous in the final third. Houston have been dangerous from the entire team all season and that’s continued in the Playoffs with six goals from five players (Ching, Jagua, Davis, Holden, DeRosario). The Dynamo were without Ching many times during the season and did fine, so I doubt the team is worried.

I think the real loss is Houston no longer have the ability to bring a came-changer off the bench, which is where Ngwenya was valuable with his pace and trickiness. They do have Stuart Holden and maybe even Corey Ashe, but the loss of Ching is significant. However, perhaps Ching would be fit enough to come on late for a spark if the Dynamo need it.

But the bottom line is that the veterans on the team — Mulrooney, Davis, Mullan, and DeRosario — will have to step it up on Sunday to fill the void Ching leaves. How do you think this effects their chances?

The Houston Dynamo has secured home-field advantage in the first round of the 2007 MLS Cup playoffs following the Oct. 11 scoreless draw between FC Dallas and Chivas USA.

I hadn’t realized that the Dallas draw meant that they can’t catch Houston (Dallas has only one game left in the season), so the Dynamo are guaranteed at least second place, which means home field advantage for the first round! Great news.

There’s still a chance Houston can win the Western Conference. They’ll need Chivas to lose or draw to Colorado on Sunday and the Dynamo would have to win both of their remaining games, but it’s still possible. Here’s hoping!

I am really excited to go to Houston because I still have a lot of good friends there. My fiancé, Kassie, is already there and we are going to stay an extra day so we can see some friends. We are staying with the Mullans. They are probably the nicest people I have ever met, and we became very close while we lived there. We lived four houses down from them and were over at their house everyday.

The article also reveals Gray owns a clothing company, which I never knew. Check it out — it’s got some neat stuff and even better, he’s using a lot of MLS players (from a variety of teams) as models. You might recognize Cochrane, Stammler, Jaqua, and others.