HOUSTON -- The Houston Dynamo truly believe they are better than their mediocre and somewhat surprising 4-4-8 record shows.
They were saying the same thing when they made it through the first six weeks of the season without a win to show for, and they turned things around.
Now the team, which will not play another league match until August, looks to the second edition of SuperLiga for a way to cure the ills of the defending champions.
The Dynamo open SuperLiga play Saturday, July 12 against Atlante and will host Chivas de Guadalajara on Tuesday, July 15. Both games will be at Robertson Stadium and the team will be looking to show any kind of spark on the offensive side of the ball.
The team has scored just two goals in their last five games, but still remains tied for third place in the very tight Western Conference standings. Midfielder Brad Davis, who participated in the Free Kick Masters exhibition in Houston last weekend, said this is the perfect time for the team to clear its collective head and get back to playing good soccer.
"We are getting too many ties; we have tied half of our games," Davis said. "The spirit of the guys is so great. We still believe in ourselves. Other people don't, and I think that is wrong for what we've proven and what we've done over the last couple years. We believe we will work it out, and once we do and start scoring some goals, with this team, it's not unlikely that we could rattle off 10 or 11 unbeaten with six or seven wins in there."
Even though the wins are few and far between for the defending champions, confidence remains high. Head coach Dominic Kinnear stands behind his team and believes he is coaching one of the league's elite teams.
While the standings might beg to differ, the Dynamo are just one small winning streak away from taking over the West.
Davis said he and his teammates are looking forward to the challenge of playing the Mexican league teams. If they are able to play well and get out of the first round, a potential rematch with Pachuca awaits.
Pachuca, winners of the last two CONCACAF Champions' Cup titles and the victor in last season's SuperLiga, beat the Dynamo on penalty kicks last summer after a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes. The got the Dynamo's very best and Davis said playing the Mexican teams provides quite the challenge because it's a different style of soccer all together.
"MLS is very up-and-down and a quick-paced game, while the Mexican teams play a lot slower," said Davis. "The Mexican teams try to spread you out a bit more and try to work the ball and make you run around a bit more."
Davis said playing well in the SuperLiga tournament means more than just going for the top prize of $1 million. It's about, he said, playing good soccer and also representing Major League Soccer.
"Every time you step on to the field, you want to win, and you want to play well," Davis said. "You want to represent yourself and your team and MLS in the proper way, so you have to do whatever it takes."
More than 62,000 fans attended SuperLiga games at Robertson Stadium a year ago and were treated to some of the best soccer in North America. The team can only wonder "what if" had they been able to hold off Pachuca.
But one thing is for certain, Davis and his teammates know they will have the support of some of the greatest fans in MLS. The team often credits the rowdy environment for helping it because of the best pro teams since arriving in Houston just prior to the 2006 season.
But even with the support of many Dynamo fans, Davis knows there will be crowds of people supporting the visitors. That, he said, is quite all right too.
"There will be some fans there that will want to support the Mexican side, and whenever you get American supporters and Mexican supporters, there is going to be a bitter rivalry," Davis said. "It's always going to be a good atmosphere. I think that's what helps us as well is to have a great atmosphere like that. You are playing in and surrounded, and you don't always get to play in packed stadiums every week. These are games that we work forward to."
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