Tonight we are a “best of” of Soccer Matters brought to you by Ironman Sports Medicine Institute tonight at 8pm cdt on SPORTSTALK790, sports790.com or Iheart Radio.

I have decided to bring you past interviews from U.S. Womens National team players Megan Rapinoe and Kelly O’hara as it is relevant to the U.S. women today advancing into the quarterfinals.

You will also hear from Brandi Chastain prior to the tournament who has been involved with “twittergate” with Hope Solo.

U.S. National team coach Jurgen Klinsmann will round things off.

Hope you enjoy this show!

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

You could have not scripted this better.

The Dynamo are only one point behind New York in the Eastern Conference for the top spot.

The Dynamo going on a run, a four game winning streak has positioned these coming two games against New York as a showcase in the Eastern Conference.

With Thierry Henry, Ken Cooper Jr., and Tim Cahill coming into town fans would be remiss to not show up to BBVA Compass Stadium this Friday night and the game is close to being a sell-out at this moment.

The Dynamo are coming off a very professional road win at Toronto 2-0 and are the most in form team in the league.

The real key’s to the turn around clearly has been a system change and the acquisition of DP Boniek Garcia.

SYSTEM CHANGE:

Moving from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 has brought protection in the middle of the field to the two Dynamo center backs Bobby Boswell and now Jermaine Taylor.

This has been one of the keys with the system change from a defensive perspective.

Prior to this the Dynamo midfield was being cut through like butter, the four set struggled against team’s with five in midfield.
It clearly left the back four exposed and consistently opponents were breaking through a suspect midfield.
Now with three central midfield players in a diamond in front of the center back’s the middle of the field has been shored up and the backs have been protected wonderfully.
The Dynamo re-claimed their collective defending nature and Dominic Kinnear has to be credited with making the change. Flexibility at the right time from a coach is vital.

The system is flexible because the two strikers up front in wide positions can easily drop deeper in midfield and turn the set-up into a 4-5-1 which at times in every game it morphs into.

The system has benefitted individuals like Mac Kandji, Calen Carr. Kandji has flourished out wide in this system and has morphed into a more dangerous and influential player.
Carr is making plays, scoring goals to go along with his movement and mobility that influences opponents.
Brad Davis has adjusted in latter games wonderfully to playing in a more central role.

BONIEK GARCIA

No one can deny the quality he has brought having played every minute of every game.
His professionalism is contagious, he has lifted performance of those around him and is a top player game in and game out for the Dynamo.
What I believe he has also brought is increased competition amongst the team, flexibility in terms of personnel and tactics for a coach.
Simply, that is what happens and should happen when you acquire a player of this stature.

OLYMPICS CLOSE TO KNOCK OUT STAGE
Womens final group games are tomorrow while the men will wrap up on Wednesday. Quarterfinals begin for the women on Friday and the men on Saturday.
Have you been interested in the Olympic soccer or not? Tell me why or why not?

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

It was a stunner as Honduras defeated Spain 1-0 in what is one of the biggest victories in Honduran football history.

THE GOAL: Jerry Bengston of the NE Revolution would get the game winner in the 7th minute but take note. Three MLS players were involved in the goal with the addition of Andy Najar of DC United and Roger Espinoza of Sporting KC.
A good day for MLS!

THE SECOND HALF
Spain finally found it’s form, hitting the post or crossbar three times.
Jordi Alba started to get into the attack down the left side and
Rodrigo, Juan Mata all had exceptional chances.
That combined with outstanding goalkeeping from Jose Mendoza and the fate of the soccer gods would carry Honduras through.

YELLOW CARDS
Rarely do you see a game with 13 yellow cards without a player being sent off.

REMINDER
This is not the same Spanish team that won the World Cup and European Championship.
It is mainly an exceptional under 23 squad. It does not take anything away from the Honduras result but some have equated the two.

Additional notes:

*Brazil and Japan have advanced after two games.

*Ryan Giggs became the oldest player in the history of the Olympics to score at 38 in a 3-1 Great Britain win over the UAE.

*Mexico emerged 2-0 winners over Gabon with Gio Dos Santos scoring twice. He is the nephew of former Houston Dynamo Beto Dos Santos. Dos Santos also played indoor for the Houston Hotshots.

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

The Dynamo picked up their first win on the road since back in March against San Jose as they continue their winning surge as of late and have steamed to within one point of Eastern Conference leaders the New York Red Bulls.

Calen Carr and Brian Ching provided goals with Carr’s coming dramatically on the stroke of halftime after a flick on from Bobby Boswell off a corner.
Ching in a starting role scored in the 86th minute.

The Dynamo have done a wonderful job of protecting goalkeeper Tally Hall in the last seven games having only conceded one goal.
The club now has moved up in the standings to second place and ironically now will be playing first place New York Red Bulls and Thierry Henry in back to back games to add to the excitement!!

Your thoughts on the Dynamo road win at Toronto FC?

WILL THE REAL SPAIN AND MEXICO STAND UP?
In Olympic mens soccer today brings us to interesting matches with Mexico taking on Gabon in their second group game while Spain plays Honduras.

Both Mexico and Spain got off to less than impressive starts at the Olympics and will need a good result in their second group game.

Don’t be surprised to see one or both of these teams produce good games today. Mexico needs more from Gio Dos Santos while Spain is led by Juan Mata of Chelsea.

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

The Dynamo take on Toronto tomorrow at 3:30 cst on FSH and Multimedios.
With their newfound 4-3-3 system producing goals at home the next step is to produce a winning one on the road.
The Dynamo were impressive in taking three straight games at home with a total combined 9 points. In my opinion they are the hottest team in MLS.
One of the other hottest teams is Toronto FC who have flourished under manager Paul Mariner.
The real question will lie in if the Dynamo can find more moments at BMO Field to really stay true to the 4-3-3 as opposed to dropping into a 4-5-1.
This should be interesting!!

Tomorrow I have the honor of calling Womens Olympic soccer at 8:30 cst with Brazil taking on New Zealand. Brazil have five time FIFA Womens World player of the year Marta plus all time Olympic leading goal scorer Cristiane.

Most though will put their attention on the U.S. Colombia match which I believe the U.S. will win handily just based on the lack of fitness and comparable athletic ability of the Colombians.

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron has agreed to a deal with Stoke City.
Earlier Stoke and MLS had agreed on a transfer fee for Cameron.

Cameron apparently is on a plane tonight to Orlando, Florida where Stoke is training to get a medical assessment. He will then apparently head back to Houston until his work permit is granted which is expected to occur by August 8th.

From the outside it is too bad that Cameron has not be able to participate with Stoke on their U.S. tour as to get to know his teammates before heading across the pond.

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

The opening ceremonies for the Olympics are Friday in London but womens soccer begins today with some intriguing matches.

U.S. v. France
The U.S. defeated France 3-1 at the 2010 Fifa World Cup 3-1 on the scoreline but it was the French in mirroring their men’s national team style of play that impressed many.
Technically they were impressive and only lacked some power and strength in the final third when it comes to finishing. Has that changed?
We will find out today.
The U.S. Women want to get off to a good start and they will be tested. Some questions still remain around the back four and of course we have the Hope Solo book chatter.
Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and company want to get off to a good start.

Japan/ Canada
Canada are consistent underachievers in big tournaments and will try to lose that label today. Getting Japan in their opening match could be a good thing yet they will have to contend with a technically sound team that won’t give up the ball. They proved in the last World Cup they can win the big game beating Germany , Sweden and the United States.
Japan led by Homare Sawa are the favorites having won the 2010 World Cup while Christine Sinclair of Canada is one of the world’s best strikers.
New Canadien coach John Herdman has breathed life into the Canadien program.

MLS ALL STARS v. CHELSEA
The MLS All Stars take on Chelsea tonight from PPL Park in Chester, PA while Liverpool and Roma with Michael Bradley perform.

For complete schedule of Olympic soccer go to NBCOLYMPICS.com

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

Soccer Matters tonight is on the air at 8p cdt.
The show includes select interviews and is brought to you by the Ironman Sports Medicince Institute.

Tune in to Sports Talk 790 or catch the show on the internet at sports790.com, you can also access the show on Iheartradio

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

Dynamo All Access tonight at 8pm on Sports Talk 8p on Sports Talk
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Streaming at sports790.com, accessed on IHeart Radio.
Hear from Dynamo players and coaches.

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc

Three games in eight days at BBVA Compass and the Houston Dynamo went a perfect three for three and have now moved into the top three in the Eastern Conference only trailing New York and Sporting KC.

Goals from Mac Kandji (7, 89) and Bobby Boswell (84) provided the three goal victory in what was essentially a 1-0 game until the 84th minute.

If one went back to June 23 you might have thanked Montreal because on that night at Stade Saputo the Impact ran roughshod through the Dynamo midfield scoring four goals.

What has happened since then is remarkable when it comes to a team changing.
Dynamo manager Dominic Kinnear moved away from the 4-4-2 into a 4-3-3 starting point and the club acquired DP Honduran Boniek Garcia/

Boniek Garcia as a DP should has lifted this club through his play and professionalism. The competition for places in the starting team and to make the bench has intensified.
He has made players around him better and he has given a manager flexible options both positionally and tactically.
Boniek Garcia has played every minute of 6 straight games and one has to point to this signing as one of the most significant in team history for the moment.
He has brought a new level of excitement to the squad.
The Dynamo also caught a large break in that Boniek Garcia was not picked as an over-age player for the Honduran Olympic team.

MAKING PLAYS
Fans wondered when both Mac Kandji and players like Calen Carr would make plays. Carr scored twice on Wednesday against Sporting KC and Kandji picked up a pair last night. Kandji is thriving in the 4-3-3 set up while Carr who has had injury problems had his first ever two goal game.

EARLY SCARE
The only area the Dynamo would be concerned with is how they start games.
Against both DC United and last night against Montreal the team got off to slow starts but were fortunate not to concede goals.
Early Montreal pressure had the Dynamo reeling and they nearly scored when a Lamar Neagle header hit the post.

CREAVALLE
Warren Creavalle played a solid 90 minutes as a holding midfielder after a bit of a nervous start where he gave the ball away. The rookie continues to impress.
Meanwhile his counter-part Luis Camargo had one of his better games in central midfield.

THREE SET IN MIDFIELD
Italian star Marco DiVaio had a tough night and alot of that credit goes to the Dynamo three midfielders Creavalle, Boniek Garcia, and Luiz Camargo who shut down passing lines so Montreal could not find his feet. This is another benefit of the 4-3-3.
It made it a fairly easy night for the Dynamo central pairing of Bobby Boswell and Jermaine Taylor who were strong.

TIMING OF GOALS
Nothing better than picking off the second goal in the 84th minute with Montreal making a push.

ON THE BENCH
Un-recognized by many fans was Italian World Cup winner Alessandro Nesta on the Montreal bench. Nesta did a workout pre-game going through a series of sprints along with some ball work.
He likely will debut next weekend.

BUTTS IN SEATS
Those fans that have tickets need to pass them on to others if they are not making the game. Even though 19 to 20 thousand tickets are sold for the games there are too many no shows. Others will enjoy so pass your tickets on!!!
The Dynamo still remain the best sporting value in town and are now becoming even more interesting and exciting to watch!

Twitter: GlennDavisSoc