Although they play in different leagues in different countries, Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo and Mexico's Pachuca CF have developed one of the better rivalries in all of North America, one that will be renewed again on Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The teams have squared off five times over the last three years with the overall record knotted at 2-2-1, but the Dynamo are 2-0-1 at Robertson Stadium.
The first matchup between the teams came in the 2007 edition of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, where they met in a home-and-home series. In the first leg at Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo stunned Pachuca and headed to Mexico with a 2-0 lead. The return leg in Mexico might have been the best match between the two sides as Pachuca won 5-2 in extra time and advanced over the Dynamo 5-4 on aggregate.
The teams met again in the 2007 and 2008 editions of Superliga. In 2007, the Dynamo and Pachuca were knotted at 2-2 to send the game to penalty kicks, where the Mexican side again prevailed. In 2008, the Dynamo got some revenge, defeating Pachuca 2-0 at Robertson Stadium and putting Houston into the SuperLiga final.
Just weeks ago, Houston and Pachuca met for the first time as part of the 2009-2010 CONCACAF Champions League, with Tuzos beating the Dynamo, 2-0. The contest game was a tough battle for both teams until Dynamo forward Dominic Oduro was sent off near the end of the first half. After that, the Dynamo goal was under siege with goalkeeper Tally Hall making 10 saves on the Tuzos' 26 total shots.
"Everyone knows that the Pachuca-Dynamo rivalry is one of the better ones as far as Mexico and the U.S. goes," said Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden. "Pachuca's a good team. It is two good teams competing, and two good teams trying to win. It's a big game for us and it's a big game for them as well."
For Pachuca's U.S. international, Jose Francisco Torres, the match provides the young midfielder an opportunity to return home. The Longview native appreciates the quality time he gets to spend with his family when he comes to Houston.
"I am from Texas and when I come here I get to see my family," said Torres. "It's always great to be back home and playing in front of the family."
Torres, though, is focused on the task at hand and recognizes the challenges Pachuca face when they square off against Houston.
"When you play against the Dynamo it's always difficult and it's always hard," said Torres. "We know that the Dynamo are a great team and they have demonstrated that over the years when we've played them. When they are at home they are dangerous and attack a lot."
On the other side of the ball, the Dynamo clearly have respect for Pachuca's offensive capabilities in terms of maintaining possession and movement both on and off the ball.
"Their movement as a team is a joy to watch sometimes," said Dynamo forward Brian Ching. "It creates difficulty for a lot of teams and especially us, but we've played them hard here and we are excited about it. They are one of the best teams out of Mexico and we are one of the best teams in the MLS. It's a great opportunity for a good game and a game played the right way."
For the Dynamo to be successful against the Tuzos this time, Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear believes that his team will have to put pressure on Pachuca whenever they have the ball.
"It's important to try and make the space tight for them," said Kinnear. "We need to close their space and pressure them in their half of the field. Good players with not a lot of pressure become great players so it is important for us to come out and pressure them and make the field small."
Kinnear recognizes that the match against Pachuca is not a "must-win", but still recognizes that a full three points might be all that is needed to advance his squad out of the group stage.
Pachuca leads the group with nine points, two points ahead of the tie between Houston and Panama's Arabe Unido -- but the Dynamo's big 5-1 win against Arabe last week at Robertson Stadium gives the Orange the tiebreaker if those teams finish tied. Arabe faces winless Isidro Metapan of El Salvador on Tuesday night.
"It would be nice to win. We owe it to ourselves and our fans that we don't sit back for any team when they come in town," Kinnear said. "[Our chances to advance] don't hinge on this game, but it would be nice to win this one."
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
