Even with Houston Dynamo's 2-1 defeat to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, the club remains one of the top four teams in MLS and continues to breathe down Chivas USA's neck. But the Orange don't seem to be getting the attention that Chivas, New England and D.C. United gets.
Still, that's not something that bothers the defending MLS Cup champions.
"When teams go up against us, they are scared," said Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson. "They are not thinking 'Oh this is going to be an easy night. We might get a win tonight.' They know it's not going to be an easy one.
"Media or the league itself, sure. AEG is great to us. But, let's be honest, L.A. is their baby, and that's who they are pushing right now. AEG has been good to us, and that's fine by us. We don't need a lot of attention anyway. None of the players on this team are really 'high profiled, give me the limelight guys.' We are just a straightforward, hard-working team. If people do want to overlook us, then fine, but I don't think players and teams and coaches do."
Dynamo enter the final two weeks of the season in second place in the Western Conference, but they are only three points behind Chivas for the division lead.
Since their horrible 2-5-2 start, Houston has a 12-3-5 record in their past 20 MLS games, which included an 11-game MLS unbeaten streak and a six-game unbeaten streak that the Galaxy ended.
"I think every team comes into a game against us knowing that we are one of the best teams in the league and they treat it as such," said Dynamo forward Brian Ching. "They give it their best. I really think that everyone looks at us as one of the top three teams in the league. They may not write about us or talk about us, but they are scared of us."
Dynamo, however, aren't a flashy team. Even with four players with international experience this season in Ching and midfielder Ricardo Clark, who played for the United States, and midfielder Dwayne DeRosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who played for the Canadian national team, Dynamo don't have guys with household names.
Ching and Joseph Ngwenya lead the team in goals with seven each, and Houston has relied on their defense, which has allowed an MLS best 23 goals this season. They know they are a team, and that's what makes them good.
"We always felt like we are the unwanted team," Ching said. "I think that's what makes us strong. We are a team, and we stick together. We win games. We grind them out."
The lack of attention has been all right by Dynamo. Last season they finished second in the West in the regular season before going on to win MLS Cup. Dynamo know how they have fared against D.C., New England, Chivas and FC Dallas, and that's all that matters to the Orange.
"We're a bit unlucky against New England this year," Robinson said. "If you count SuperLiga, we played D.C. three times and beat them twice. We beat Chivas twice. Dallas we have beaten three times and drawn with once. We look at it that way, so we're a pretty good team when we look at it against those teams. Again, let them look and see what they want and say what they want. We just look at the records."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
