All last week, the Houston Dynamo players and head coach Dominic Kinnear stressed that the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series against the New York Red Bulls was nothing more than the first half of another important game.
The first game in the aggregate-goals series was played on the road at Giants Stadium, a place the team has never won, and has still never been victorious.
The first leg is in the books, and the score is tied 1-1 thanks to a goal by Kei Kamara in the 85th minute.
But the Dynamo know getting the draw was a lot bigger than they let on in the days leading up to the match.
When Kamara's toe-poke settled in the back of the net as a stunned Red Bulls team looked on, Kamara found Stuart Holden, and the two started dancing.
Some could criticize the Dynamo for celebrating a draw, but when Juan Pablo Angel gave New York the lead earlier in the match with his first career playoff goal, it became crunch time for the two-time defending champs.
The team got the result it wanted, at least after falling behind in the series, but most of the Dynamo say that Holden and Kamara need to work on their moves a little bit.
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Kei Kamara and Stuart Holden show off a unique celebratory dance.
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"I have absolutely no comment on the dance I saw out there," said goalkeeper Pat Onstad with a grin. "They are part of an entirely different generation."
Midfielder Brian Mullan agreed the dancing needs some work. Asked to rate the dance on a scale of one to 10, Mullan didn't hesitate.
"One out of 10," he quipped. "Not good."
Despite the light-hearted criticism from their teammates, Kamara and Holden, who both came off the bench in the second half, are planning an encore.
"I would be lying if I said we don't work on it a little bit," said Holden, who replaced Brian Mullan in the 71st minute. "But it was just a good moment, and with me having the touch to Kei on his goal just made it even better.
"And we've got something planned if either one of us scores in the next game. We don't mind doing it because hopefully it means we are still winning."
Kamara was sure to point out that their dancing is not directed as a taunt to their well-respected opponents. After all, he said, soccer is entertainment.
"You just have to have a little fun with it more than anything," he said. "We were definitely not trying to show up the other team. We respect them, but ... we know that our fans back home that were watching were celebrating right next to TV.
"We just thought that having a dance right there would help them to celebrate even more."
Defender Bobby Boswell, coming off his first playoff match with the Orange, did not criticize the dance moves. As long as they score the goals and help the team move on, he said, they can do whatever they want.
"Those guys do have a lot of personality, and that was a really big goal for us at the time," Boswell said. "If they want to celebrate like that, then more power to them. I know we all enjoyed watching it.
"The important thing to take away from it is that if they are going to score big goals like that to help us get to where we want to go."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
