Come out to the live on location “Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis” at Stags Head Pub near Richmond and Kirby. Stags Head Pub is located on Portsmouth and will be primed for Dynamo and soccer fans tonite.
The show starts at 7pm and goes till 9 central time.
Dynamo players Cory Ashe and Ricardo Clark will be in attendance and tickets for upcoming Dynamo games will also be given away.
Glenn Davis will also take your calls at 713-212-5790 so bring a topic of conversation, comment or concern.
The show also streams live on MLSNET.Com and MLS fans from around the country are encouraged to call in.
Podcast is available at 790TheSportsAnimal.com

The Dynamo were defeated by the New England 3-0 at Gillette Stadium.
Now since I did the LA/Colorado game I have not had a chance to see the Dynamo game.
I would love to hear your impressions of the Dynamo opener.
In Colorado the Galaxy were lethargic and down to a Terry Cooke goal at halftime that was beautifully taken after Christian Gomez hit the post. A poor call from referee Abby Okulaja changed the game in the second half sending Gomez to the penalty spot where he converted goal number 2.
Yes it changed the game and after this it was all Colorado who played five players whose most significant time has come on their reserve team. Further goals from Omar Cummings and Colin Clark rounded out the 4-0 scoreline and sends LA home where they will take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Thursday.
David Beckham and Landon Donovan both seemed drained. Beckham had a few good moments of delivery on the evening but seemed to play within himself.
Post game LA manager cited the difficulties of altitude but was clear that he felt as did Beckham that Colorado were deserved winners.

David Beckham and the LA Galaxy kick off their 2008 season from Dick’s Sporting Good Park in Commmerce City, Colorado tonite on HDNET at 8:30 cst.
The Galaxy take on the Colorado Rapids whose biggest off-season acquistion is 2006 MLS MVP Christian Gomez who was acquired from DC United and will lead the attack.

So the 2008 season kicks off in MLS and optimism abounds. I am gazing at an amazing view of the Rockie Mtns out of my hotel window.
I am in Colorado to broadcast the the Rapids and LA and it is expected to be sold-out. The evening should be chilly.
My first shock was finding out that 9 Rapids players are injured including starters like Ugo Ihemulu, Medhi Ballouchy, Pablo Maestroeni, Colin Clark and it goes on and on.
How can a team have this many injuries going into their opening game? Who is doing the physical training for this club as a number of these injuries are muscular?
Excited to see what impact Christian Gomez will have now that he is a Rapid. They still lack a proven goal-scorer.
Tonite they may just start three players that have played mainly with their reserves.
The Ruud Gullit, prounounced “Hool-it” experiment begins and it is fascinating to see if he can adapt to MLS, it’s policies, teams and players. I hope he takes this serious for the sake of the league.
David Beckham and company arrived at the airport last night to fanfare and all the talk in England is around what his future is with the national team. Looking forward to Beckham bringing some intensity to LA and opening up games with his passing ability. Lots of pressure on DB, Donovan and Ruiz to produce and remain healthy.
Looking forward to seeing Stuart Holden make his way back into the Dynamo midfield after Olympic qualifying and the trial of who becomes Brian Ching’s partner up front continues. The answer to this question could be months away.
Important tone setting results are on the cards today. Only New York and San Jose have the weekend off.
*Another good story comes out of Toronto with 2300 fans expected to make the trip to Columbus, now they just need the on field product.
I for one have had enough of the Bruno Marioni rumors to MLS, please. They even mentioned him here in Colorado. Of course they don’t have a DP slot and will not receive one until 2010 due to the Gomez trade with DC.
Enough talk lets get what should be a great 2008 underway.

The first edition of “The Dynamo Soccer Report with Glenn Davis ” airs this Friday at 9:30 pm on Channel 55. The program features player and coach interviews, highlights, game previews, community pieces and more.
The show is hosted by nationally recognized broadcaster Glenn Davis and is taped weekly and airs throughout the year.
Channel 55 will also air 17 Dynamo games throughout the year.
The defending MLS Cup Champion Houston Dynamo open their 2008 MLS season this Saturday night at the New England Revolution in a re-match of last years MLS Cup final.
The Dynamo then turn around a play a critical Concacaf Champions Cup semi-final match on Wednesday at Robertson Stadium against Costa Rica’s best Saprissa. Go to www.houstondynamo.com for great ticket specials and don’t miss out on this international competition.
“Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis” a two hour radio show on 790TheSportsAnimal kicks off a 13 week run on Monday night at the Stags Head Pub. Join Glenn and Dynamo players and coaches weekly at this live talk radio event. Ticket giveaways, great food and beverage and soccer fans all together will make this a great meeting place.
For podcasts of the show go to www.790thesportsanimal.com
The show also streams live at MLSNET.com

Germany, top European clubs make final preparations

The last time Germany played so well, they had qualified for this summer’s European Championship back in the fall. Since then, they suffered through injuries, unmotivated play, and stumbled to the end of group qualification, giving up the lead to the Czech Republic. Therefore it was important for a now-healthy German squad to make a solid showing for a nation that is anxious for summer glory. Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez scored twice and set up one goal to lead his team 4-0 over one of the hosts this summer, Switzerland. The Swiss were playing without a few starters, including Marco Streller and Ludovic Magnin, but they still had chances at the beginning of the match before the Germans took over. Head coach Jogi Loew was satisfied with the ‘concentrated, organized effort’ of his team, beating a Swiss team that he says is good enough to compete this summer. He also commented on the improved play by Lukas Podolski off the bench, stating Poldi’s passing and movement away from the ball was much better than in the last match versus Austria. Poldi’s and Gomez’s play demonstrated the extra weapons that Loew plans to use in this summer. One point not mentioned, but I observed, was the health and the role of captain Michael Ballack. He was actively involved, dominated the midfield as he should, and he will be needed if Germany will take the title. Loew will name the squad for Euro 2008 on May 16th.

Other notes from a day full of friendlies: Gemany’s group opponents were in action – Poland lost to the USA; Austria lost to the Netherlands 4-3, despite a 3-0 lead and a pumped up crowd in Vienna, the loss shows they have a long way to go if they will make as much noise as their fans this summer; and Croatia earned a tough draw 1-1 vs. Scotland… what a site in Duesseldorf, as the Greeks repeated their performance vs. Portugal, beating them for the third straight time. The last two were in Euro 2004, including the final. Can they repeat their magic this summer?,,, two disappointing matches between European powerhouses, first England-France could not have been any more boring and uneventful, the English were obviously not even concerned about getting into a groove for World Cup qualifying after losing out of this summer’s competition, a Franck Ribery penalty won it, if you can say that; Fabio Capello has a lot of work to do, and it may be without David Beckham who earned his 100th cap for England… the Italy-Spain match is also not even worth commenting on except for the awesome shot by David Villa to help the Spaniards beat the World Champs. Kickoff for Euro 2008 is June 7th when Switzerland opens up against the Czech Republic.

The United States got a well deserved 3-0 win over Poland in Krakow under chilly conditions.
Goals from Carlos Bocanegra (12th), Oguchi Onyewu (35th), and an Eddie Lewis free kick in the 73rd provided the difference.
The win is impressive merely for the fact it was on foreign soil against a team that has qualified for the European Championships this summer.
The early road goal and a much more experienced squad then the one put out against Mexico in February reaped rewards. The U.S. managed the game quite well and produced a professional performance and result that is encouraging.
The starting lineup looked like this out of a starting point of a 4-4-2:

Howard

Cherundolo Onyewu Bocanegra Pearce

Dempsey Clark Bradley Donovan

Ching Johnson

Subs: Jay DeMerit, Eddie Lewis, Josh Wolff, Benny Feilhaber

Have your say on the game and the performance of both the teams and the players.

* Lets talk the LA Galaxy. How much pressure will there be on David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz to produce?
Maybe just too much. The real question here is the supporting cast around the trio and the dependency to produce that will be thrust upon the youth of this squad. Ruud Gullit’s patience could be stressed with the policies of MLS and all the mechanisms that will handcuff a coach that once managed Chelsea, Feyenoord and Newcastle.
Speaking of Gullit…was there ever a more versatile player that made an impact at some many different positions? Whether as a central defender, midfielder or striker he was a player that produced. I hope that he is taking MLS serious, MLS needs a serious Gullit . Time will tell.

*OK so David Beckham will get his 100th cap today against France and Fabio Capello will be done with it. So will Beckham get his caps and fade into the LA Galaxy sunset. Will Capello be smart enough to move from his autorcratic ways and continue to use Beckham as a specialist at the international level? Who delivers a better ball and what a great weapon Beckham can be coming off the bench late in games to take set pieces ? Stand him out wide and let him get the service in. Might be a nice thing to know he is a possibility off the bench.

* Dynamo striker Franco Caraccio is still getting used to the work that Dynamo forwards are expected to put in when the ball is lost. Defending begins up front for the collective Dynamo and this is an area Caraccio is still adjusting to with his new squad.

*New England will be without wide midfielders Wells Thompson and Khano Smith due to injury and national team call ups for this Saturday’s opener against the Dynamo.
Steve Nicol NE coach also is in a similar situation trying to find the right compliment to Taylor Twellman out of four players including last years rookie of the year candidate Adam Christman.

*Fox Soccer Channel today will air the U.S. Poland game from Krakow at 2:30 central time. Only three MLS players…Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark and Landon Donovan were picked to this squad from MLS. Expect these three to get the start for Bob Bradley. Ching remains the number one target man type striker in the U.S. set up at this moment in time.

*The Dynamo Soccer Report with Glenn Davis returns to Channel 55 this Friday’s at 9:30 PM and will air throughout the season.
Channel 55 will also air 17 Dynamo games this year.
Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis on 790 The Sports Animal will debut either Monday or Tuesday depending on the result of the UH basketball game tonite. The soccer radio show will begin a run of 13 weeks in a row at the Stags Head Pub on Portsmouth inside the loop near Sheperd and 59. The pub will be a great place for soccer fans to convene weekly . Live Dynamo players and coaches will be at every show for live talk radio between 7-9pm at Stags Head Pub.

*Manchester United may be in the drivers seat in the EPL after a 3-0 win over Liverpool this past weekend but bear in mind they still have games with challengers Arsenal and Chelsea to end the season.

* MLS in High Definition comes in the form of the LA Galaxy at the Colorado Rapids this weekend. The new look Rapids will debut danger man Christian Gomez acquired from DC United while “Sexy Football” gets underway with David Beckham and company under new manager Ruud Gullit. Two teams with lots of questions can be watched on HDNET at 6:30 central time.

*Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals are set with the Dynamo taking on Costa Rican power Saprissa and DC United taking on Pachuca. Is this the year MLS gets to the World Club Championship to take on a European power. What an accomplishment it could be while waving the banner of MLS.

*Congratulations from two teams representing South Texas that won the age groups at the Dallas Cup Youth International Tournament. The Dynamo Academy team defeated IMG Academy 1-0 in the final at the u19 level while the under 16 Texans FC squad won at their age level. Liverpool won the prestigious Super Group competition who incidentally are owned by Dallas area Tom Hicks.

*Email Glenn Davis at gdavis98@swbell.net with your rants, raves or your commentary on the great game of soccer.