It’s amazing how many high profile games have come to Houston since 2003.
Soccer fans have taken in both the U.S. Men and Womens National teams, Mexican Men and Womens National teams as well as Interliga and the Gold Cup in 2005.
Couple that with MLS playoffs, the Barcelona tour, and the Copa Tejas that featured Everton and we are pretty fortunate as soccer fans.
The Gold Cup will come once again this summer of 2007 featuring the top National teams in Concacaf. Reliant Stadium has once again been chosen and Houston clearly now is being considered for every major soccer match that is put on the table.
Another reason why a soccer specific stadium for the Dynamo and the sport needs to be built.
“As we saw in 2005 Houston is a fantastic city for soccer and Reliant Stadium is one of the country’s finest facilities. The best attended game of the Gold Cup 2005 was played there and we are all looking forward to the games it will host in 2007,” said Chuck Blazer the General Secretary of Concacaf.
The game Blazer was referring to was the Mexico/Jamaica game.

The Superclasico between Club America and Chivas starts tonite at Jalisco Stadium(Telefutura at 9pm) in Guadalajara. Soccer fans this is not one to be missed.
Televisa backed Club America will then host the second league this Sunday at Azteca Stadium also televised on Telefutura.
The teams meet in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 when America defeated Chivas on a goal by Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Blanco again is one of the main characters tonite in a match that features numerous Mexican Internationals.
Mexican league playoffs are open and entertaining, don’t miss it.

Michael Sambursky ( Cypress Springs, Hurricanes Soccer Club), Jerson Monteiro (Robert E. Lee, Houstonians soccer club), Dane Richards (San Jacinto College) all have been selected to participate in the MLS Adidas Player combine in January 5-8 at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Again it reminds us that great soccer talent heads out of Texas and the Houston area every year.
How lazy is it that international institutions like UT, Texas AM, UH, and Rice University do not have mens division 1 soccer. Why must all the talented male youth players have to leave this state to pursue soccer and an education?
It is just lazy. One division one soccer program in all of Texas it really makes you wonder in University regents have their eyes open.
If you feel strongly about this sign the petition on this website and put your two cents worth in. It can make a difference.

Where’s is the womens game you ask?
With the retirement of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Carla Overbeck, and Brandi Chastain womens soccer has taken a hit and lies way below the radar.
The college game is priority while a poorly designed set up for failure WUSA professional womens league is long gone.
This past Sunday the U.S. Womens National team won the Gold Cup over Canada 2-1 and have advanced to the 2007. The crowd was sparse at the Home Depot Center and a far cry from the energized fans who used to come out and watch Hamm and co.
US coach Greg Ryan has been successful in grooming a number of younger womens players into the squad like Natasha Kai, Lori Chalupny, Heather O’Reilly, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo (current number one goalkeeper over Briana Scurry), and Leslie Osborne.
Osborne in fact has taken to the defensive midfield role vacated by Shannon Boxx in fine fashion and scored in the final against Canada along with Kristine Lilly.
Lilly and Abby Wambach are the two dominating figures on the team but at the 2007 World Cup youth could be king.
Look for the U.S. Women to go into a four month residency camp from April-July with numerous domestic games around the country being played to prepare the team and to hopefully again spike interest before the women head off to the Far East for the World Cup finals. Expect the to make a visit to Houston .
The question is can womens soccer make a bigger impact out of it’s strong participatory culture or are we dreaming to think a womens professional league can be successful?

When Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard was loaned to Everton the intention from Man United manager Alex Ferguson was to get Howard games. Howard quickly was made the number one at Everton yet will not get to play against his parent club this Wednesday when Everton meets Manchester United in and EPL league game.
Richard Wright will get the start because of a rule that prevents a loan player from appearing in a game against a parent club……… Dynamo Team President Oliver Luck will head to Aguascalientes, Mexico this Friday to take in the Chivas USA vs. Necaxa game. The game will mark the last game for Hugo Sanchez in charge of Necaxa before he takes the reigns of the Mexican National team. Luck will also be speaking to Necaxa about a cooperative agreement with the Mexican League Club.
Still no word on where the Dynamo will play their Concacaf Champions Cup match against Puntarenas of Costa Rica in Houston but it seems UH is out Monday through Friday due to school being in session. The second leg in Costa Rica may likely be played on artificial surface at the National stadium in Saprissa. The Dynamo will most likely begin training in mid-January to prepare for the competition that ultimately leads to the FIFA World Club Championships and a shot at top Euro Clubs.

SOCCER HOUR WITH GLENN DAVIS TONITE AT 8pm on 790 AM radio

Guests:

RECENT UPDATE: U.S. Womens National team coach Greg Ryan will discuss the womens game and the US Womens Gold Cup title win this past Sunday over Canada.
CURT ONALFO-new KC Wizards head coach, former US National Team Assistant
CHARLIE KADUPSKI- THE SPORT SOURCE- How to get the competitive edge in finding the correct college program for you?

*call in number 713-212-5790
*podcast available at Houstonchronicle.com
*streaming live at www.790thesportsanimal.com
CALL IN AT 713-212-5790

Sign the petition for Division one mens soccer in Texas.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco helped pull Club America out of a huge hole in an entertaining Mexican league quarterfinal second leg match yesterday. If you missed it you missed a game every bit as entertaining as the Manchester United/Chelsea game.
Up 3-1 on aggregate going into the match Atlas scored three unanswered goals through Andres Guardado’s (you remember this young talent in the World Cup or Mexico) long range bomb in the 14th minute, Daniel Osorno’s 26th minute snap header and a goal from M. Perez in the 56th minute to take the aggregate lead 4-3.
Domintating the match for 65 minutes wouldn’t cut it for Atlas.
Enter the unpredictable Blanco in the second half off the bench and in the 70th minute he created space to his left at the top of the box and scored to level the aggregate.
His back heel to Salvador Cabanas played a part in the aggregate tie-breaking goal only 4 minutes later. Jose Antonio Castro would add a late goal and ‘the Aguilas” have now advanced 6-4 on aggregate in dramatic fashion.
Blanco played the hero. Club America will play Chivas in the much anticipated semi-final dubbed the “Super Classico’ while Toluca will battle Pachuca in the other semi-final.
All group leaders during the regular season were eliminated. Cruz Azul (group 1), Monterrey (group 2) and Unam Pumas (group 3) all proved that regular season success doesn’t translate into playoff success. Hey where have we heard that before?
Open play, teams that play to attack first, and naive defending all lead to entertaining playoffs in Mexico.

Manchester United lost out on a golden opportunity to extend their lead to six points in the Premiership over Chelsea. The 1-1 draw played out the way many critics felt it would but the scintillating game featured breathtaking play and momentum swings especially during the second half.
Wayne Rooney proved to be the architect on the United goal which came at the 29 minute mark of the first half. A beautifully weighted pass to Louis Saha put him in a position to use Chelsea defender Louis Carvalho as a screen and Saha placed a beautiful ball around the defender for a classic goal from 18 yards out for his ninth goal of the year. The goal was particularly sweet for Saha who missed a penalty kick against Celtic in the Champions League during the week.
United controlled the first half but Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho made an attacking switch bringing on Arjen Robben which influenced the second half and opened up the midfield leading to a more wide open attacking game.
United missed opportunities early in the second half which could have sealed Chelsea’s fate.
Chelsea then came to life with more inspired play by Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack who were non factors in the first half as Rooney was forced to defend more in the second half.
Chelsea pressure paid off when Carvalho rose above Argentine Gabriel Heinze to head home after a corner kick in the 70th minute.
In classic heavyweight style both teams went for the win until United subs of Darren Fletcher and Nick O’Shea in the 86th minute seemed to symbolize that the day would ultimately end in a draw.
Andri Shevchenko was a non-factor for Chelsea who remain three points behind United.

The Dynamo are Costa Rica bound for the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup.
The game is scheduled to be played Feb 20-22 and the second leg will be played in Houston between February 27- March 1 at a site to be determined.
The draw which occurred this past Friday also saw DC United get placed with Olimpia of Honduras.
Goltv will carry the Puntarenas/Olimpia UNCAF match next Wednesday if you want to see what both the Dynamo and DC United’s opponents look like.
Ironically Puntarenas also wears orange as their primary color.

Kansas City Wizards midfield/forward Davey Arnaud has committed to play in the Soccer match for Cancer Awareness on December 21st. Arnaud who is from Nederland had 4 goals and 4 assists last year for the Wizards and played youth soccer locally.
The Match for Cancer Awareness will take place at the Pin Oak Middle School at 7:30 pm and will feature top local, youth and professional players many with ties to Houston. Chris Gbandi (FC Dallas), Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas), and Josh Gardner (LA), Ricky Lewis (Rochester) are just a few that have committed to play in the event. The MLS Cup Trophy won by the Dynamo will also be on display with fans given the opportunity to have their photos taken with Cup.
Stay tuned as rosters will be updated as we get closer to the event.