HOUSTON -- Perhaps Houston Dynamo midfielder Craig Waibel said it best. Asked about the Orange's opportunity to play another competitive match after losing out in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs to league runner-up New York, Waibel just shook his head and smiled.
"It's just a rare, odd, awkward and awesome opportunity," said Waibel after leaving a lengthy training session last Thursday. "The one thing -- and this has been proven time, and time, and time, and time again, is that ... we have been put in situations that are unfavorable, and every time, this team has shown up to play."
And the Dynamo will have that opportunity Tuesday night, at 7 p.m. local time when they play host to El Salvador's CD Luis Angel Firpo at Robertson Stadium.
Wednesday's tilt will be the team's 48th competitive match of the season, the most of its MLS brethren, and the most ever for an MLS team in a single year. To date, the Dynamo have won 18 of those matches, tied another 20 and lost just nine.
Even though the sting of their 3-0 loss to New York more than two weeks ago still lingers, the team is ready to officially close out a year that saw the team win a regular season Western Conference championship for the first time in team history.
A win Wednesday would qualify the Dynamo for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Should they advance, the Dynamo will play host to the first leg Feb. 24-26, with the second leg scheduled for March 3-5. Possible quarterfinal opponents are Atlante and Santos Laguna from Mexico and Marathon from Honduras.
Goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who was left off the Dynamo's protected list for the upcoming MLS expansion draft, said the team is ready to thrill the fans one more time.
"It's certainly not the game we wanted to be preparing for, but it's still an important game," said Onstad. "I think the week off that (head coach) Dom (Kinnear) gave us helped the team time to refocus.
"This is an important game because we want to go forward, not only to represent the MLS and the city of Houston, but to end the season on a high note."
Wednesday's game was originally scheduled for Sept. 17, but Hurricane Ike thrashed the Houston community, making it impossible to host the game at that time.
Now, more than two months later, and after the team's hopes for a third consecutive MLS title have faded away, the team hopes to avenge a 1-1 draw from the last time the Dynamo played Firpo.
In that match, a game that featured mostly Dynamo reserves, Stuart Holden (who is suspended Wednesday for yellow card accumulation) gave the Orange a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.
But Fernando Leguizamon took a pass from Ramon Avila and Carlos Monteagudo in the 87th minute and scored to earn a point in the standings for the Salvadoran side.
Defender Eddie Robinson hopes the team's preparation for the match will be rewarded with a win Wednesday night in Houston.
"If you were to come out and watch us train since then, you wouldn't know that we weren't playing for anything less than the MLS championship," Robinson said. "That is the thing about this team; whether or not we are playing a game or practicing, we are just as competitive either way.
"The attitude never changes for us and that is what has kept us so good for so long. I think you are going to see a lot of that when we take the field."
One thing the players talked about after the 3-0 loss to New York in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series was how many scoring opportunities the team failed to convert in the match. Some players said they outplayed the Red Bulls.
Still, others said, destiny had other plans for the two-time defending champions, and it would not have mattered how many times they would have scored.
Robinson said the match against Firpo could be a therapy of sorts for he and his mates.
"It's a chance for us to actually put some balls in the back of the net and just say 'Thank you' to our fans that have supported us from start to finish," said Robinson. "I think you are certainly going to see a lot of intensity and fire from this team when we take the field in front of what we think is the greatest home-field advantage in this league.
"We know what this game means for next season and we are really excited about it."
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