Preview - Fire@Houston - 04-29-07
By: Tom | April 28th, 2007
Matchup: 6.00 p.m. CST, Sunday April 29th @ Houston Dynamo
Season record: Fire 2-0-1 | Dynamo 1-1-1
Last five: W D W - - | L W T L W
Weather: ~80F
TV: DK, CSN, MLSLIVE.tv
Fire injuries: MF Justin Mapp DOUBTFUL - L hamstring strain, MF Brian Plotkin QUESTIONABLE - L hip strain, FW Calen Carr PROBABLE - L knee contusion
Last meeting: 2-2
Opponent to watch: Brian Ching. Missed the last game, but is key to their chances of scoring on a tight Fire backline.
Reason #214 to hate the Dynamo: Watching another AEG team win the MLS Cup in their first season (or not, depending on how you count them) was not really very cool.
This game is a great test of how good the Fire really are: on the road against the defending MLS champions. Moreover, it looks like the Fire will be without their best player, Justin Mapp, who has regressed from questionable to doubtful over the week. Chris Rolfe will need to step-up again and hold the creative reins, and the Other Wayne Rooney has to be clinical in front of goal, as he has only been sporadically this season.
The Dynamo, meanwhile, have been in very mixed form recently, losing to a 10-man Red Bulls team last week, but downing Chivas USA the week before. They’ve already played seven games this season due to their participation in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where they gave a very strong Pachuca team a big scare in the semi-finals. But they will need Ching back and DeRosario to play half-decently (which he hasn’t recently) to break down the Fire.
Random opposing team fact of the week: apparently, Houston counts astronaut Joan Higginbotham and singer Solange Knowles as their “celebrity fans”. Ms. Knowles, sister of Beyonce and pictured above, is apparently less famous due to her ridiculously wide chin. No offense, but shouldn’t the MLS champions have better celebrity fans?
Reason #4875 to hate the Dynamo: they are one of only two MLS teams not to have an Offside blogger. How lame is that?
Prediction: Dynamo 1-1 Fire (this is different from my prediction in the prediction’s league, where I somewhat buoyantly picked a Fire win before, you know, actually thinking through the fact that this will be a tough away game. Is it OK for me to have two different picks? And yes, this fence is very comfortable, thanks for asking.) Post your predictions below!
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