Just three months after claiming their second consecutive MLS Cup title, the Houston Dynamo will play their first competitive match of 2008 Wednesday night. Or Thursday, if you're in Houston.
After three pre-season games in northern California last week, the Dynamo open the Pan-Pacific Championship against Sydney FC, representing the Australian A-League, in a match that will start at 12:30 a.m. CT Thursday morning and can be seen on ESPN Classic.
"We're looking forward to this tournament and getting our family back together," midfielder Dwayne De Rosario said on Tuesday. "This tournament will help us focus on working toward another championship. We want to start the year off on a good note."
The match is the second game of the tournament, following the opener between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Gamba Osaka of Japan. The second day of the tournament is scheduled for Saturday. All games will be played on the FieldTurf surface of Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Defender Bobby Boswell is likely to see time in his first competitive game for the club, and Boswell said his expectations are high.
"Our goal is simple: Any time you are in a tournament, you want the trophy at the end," Boswell said. "Nothing else is acceptable."
While the Dynamo are dealing with several injury problems of their own - Wade Barrett, Brad Davis, Brian Mullan and Craig Waibel have all missed time due to injury or illness, and Eddie Robinson is questionable for the game - Sydney FC is also missing several players.
Eliminated after a 2-0 aggregate defeat in the minor semifinal of the A-League's four-team finals series, Sydney is likely to be without star Brazilian Juninho, who missed the second leg of the semifinal due to knee injury, and Olympics hopefuls Mark Milligan and Ruben Zadkovic, neither of whom made the trip to Hawaii.
Sydney coach John Kosmina will rely on 24-year-old forward Alex Brosque, who scored twice against the Galaxy in a friendly in November and led Sydney with eight goals during the regular season, to lead the attack. Goalkeeper Clint Bolton and defender Tony Popovic, the team captain and a veteran of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, lead the back line. Five of the 19 players Sydney FC brought to Hawaii are under the age of 23, including teenagers Adam Biddle and Nikolas Tsattalios.
The match will be a notable homecoming for another veteran of the 2006 World Cup, Dynamo striker Brian Ching, who will play competitively in Hawaii for the first time in almost 12 years. A native of Haleiwa, Ching has not played in his native state since his senior year of high school at Kamehameha, a private school located near Honolulu.
After the tournament, the Dynamo will travel back to Houston and train Feb. 27-29 before making the relatively short trip to the San Antonio area for the pre-season Texas Pro Soccer Festival in Cibolo, Texas, March 5-9.
