There is plenty of motivation for the Houston Dynamo to keep marching up the Western Conference and MLS overall standings.
Unbeaten in 10 in a row, a win Saturday against Real Salt Lake would give the Orange sole possession of first place in the overall standings. Points-wise, they are still tied with Chivas USA, but that team has played two more games.
The Dynamo have never lost to Real at Robertson Stadium, and if that streak continues, Houston will be the first team to reach 30 points in the standings. And, it will give head coach Dominic Kinnear an honor he has never attained as a head coach: the chance to lead the MLS All-Star team.
Striker Brian Ching, who is coming off a hamstring injury and is listed as probable for Saturday's match, said the team is ready to get Kinnear to Sandy, Utah, where he would lead the best of MLS against Everton FC on July 29.
"I think it is huge motivation because he has not been an All-Star coach before because we have always started slow," said Ching. "Now, I think we have turned things around and I think he deserves it for the work he has done here for the past few years. And I think he is one of the best coaches in the league."
The Dynamo need to earn at least one point against Real Salt Lake to get Kinnear to Utah. Do it, Ching said, and they just might help each other out too.
"To have him rewarded and for us to help him get there is something special for us too," said Ching. "He can turn it around and reward some of us that are probably going to get overlooked in the balloting."
Half kidding, Ching smiled wryly when he made that comment after Thursday's training session. What he's not joking about is the chance to get back on the field for the first time since getting injured while playing for the U.S. national team in Chicago two weeks ago.
It is still unclear as to how much Ching will play if and when he does get on the field. But Ching is ready to join the Orange who are 5-2-2 all time against Real, including a perfect 4-0 mark at home.
"I am feeling good," said Ching. "I trained the last couple of days, and actually I jumped in a couple of training sessions last week. I feel good to go, ready to go. I know the team is playing really well right now, so I am just looking to get back on the field if I can."
Kinnear watched Salt Lake's 2-0 win at Los Angeles last week, and saw a team that notched its first road win of the season and put an end to the Galaxy's 10-match unbeaten streak.
Those are just two things that concern Kinnear, whose Dynamo are a near-perfect 31-0-6 when leading at halftime since the team moved to Houston from San Jose before the 2006 MLS season.
"They are a good team," said Kinnear. "Watching them play against L.A., they really passed the ball well and they got their first road win in quite awhile, and they gained a lot of confidence from that.
"They really pass the ball around well in the midfield to make things difficult for you. It's going to be a tough game for us, but it's another Western Conference opponent, and the points are at a premium."
The Dynamo have never lost a season series to Real Salt Lake and the Orange are looking to extend an MLS record they set last week when they did not allow a first-half goal in a 3-1 win at FC Dallas. That marks 11 consecutive games they've been able to keep the opposition off the scoreboard in the first half.
"It's an important game and we know that Chivas isn't playing for awhile so we have these games in hand," said Kinnear. "They are upon us so it will be nice to have the lead in the conference rather than be tied with them at the end of these couple of games."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
