In a friendly taking place with only two weeks remaining in your season, the priorities are to get some time for your backup players and to come through the match injury free. Despite winning 2-1 against CF Monterrey, the Houston Dynamo suffered an injury they may come to regret down the road as Corey Ashe took a vicious tackle in the first half and left the game injured.
"Glad we won and got some guys some minutes like Eddie [Robinson], Ryan [Cochrane], Luis [Landin], and Cam [Weaver] and that was the plan obviously," said Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear. "Corey is hurt so that is a bummer. We will find out more tomorrow. He hurt his knee and it was a bad tackle."
"I feel bad for Corey," said Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron. "He got a bad cheap shot and it shouldn't happen. Those guys should know we have a season to finish and be a good professional ... that's the disappointing part, but I did see the guy apologize to Corey afterward."
The first half was relatively tame with both sides having limited opportunities, and not scoring. Dynamo 'keeper Tally Hall spilled two efforts in the early going, but Monterrey botched the follow-up efforts. Hall, though, made amends later in the match with five solid saves on the night.
The fireworks were saved for the second half. The Dynamo struck first in the 63rd minute when John Michael Hayden delivered his corner kick to the head of second-half substitute Geoff Cameron. Cameron's snap header easily beat second half Monterrey 'keeper Jonathan Orozco, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.
In the 69th minute, the physicality in the match came to a head. Eddie Robinson was called for a hard foul and the Monterrey player took offense and approached Robinson. The benches cleared as play was halted for five minutes. When the dust cleared, four red cards were issued, including one to Robinson.
"It's disappointing and it shouldn't have happened," noted Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron. "It's always going to be like that with an American and Mexican team playing, though, and representing their countries."
When play resumed, Monterrey got the game-tying goal in the 82nd minute. William Paredes sent in a pin-point cross to the far post that found Jesus Zavala, who out-leaped Dynamo left back Wade Barrett and knotted the game at one goal each.
However, Houston got the winner in the 85th minute. Dynamo defender Craig Waibel played a beautiful left footed pass splitting the Monterrey defense and into the path of forward Dominic Oduro. Oduro's effort went into the top corner of the net, giving Houston a 2-1 victory.
"I don't know why everyone is so surprised [by the pass]," Dynamo defender Craig Waibel joked. "I noticed their left back was cheating, but I thought his finish was better than the ball in and the ball in was pretty good."
With Oduro likely coming off the bench as a substitute down the stretch and into the playoffs, Coach Dominic Kinnear hopes that goal is the first of many for Oduro off the bench.
"Hopefully that goal takes a lot of weight off his shoulders," said Kinnear. "Hopefully, he can relax now and a streak can continue."
Kinnear and the Dynamo players knew that the crowd would likely be against them and credited their own fans for doing their best after the match, but a vast majority of the fans in attendance were fans of CF Monterrey and they frequently let the referee and the Dynamo players know which team they supported.
"Only in America do you get booed in your own stadium," said Dominic Kinnear.
With the victory, the Houston Dynamo won the inaugural Dynamo Charities Cup. Even though the game was just a friendly to benefit charity, the "fighting spirit" displayed by both teams and the passion shown by the 10,456 fans in attendance exemplified the Mexico and U.S. rivalry more than that of a typical friendly.
"Charity is not the right word when you pit two important teams against each other, it's a match to be won," said defender Craig Waibel. "I think both teams could play with less pressure because it's not a league match, but there is still pride on the line. The word charity shouldn't be meant to be taken as guys don't care."
For Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear, the positives and negatives on the night were obvious.
"Job number one is to win, and we accomplished that," said Kinnear. "It's bittersweet, though, because we have a player that is important to us and that is injured now."
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
