we play Wednesday-Saturday, and we don't have Dwayne [De Rosario] playing Wednesday since he's suspended, so we'll be missing him."
The absence of De Rosario could be huge after he was sent off in the 71st minute of the last league match for Dynamo, a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on July 29 at Robertson Stadium. The Canadian international scored a beauty of a goal that was the game-winner against Chelsea FC in the MLS All-Star Game last weekend and has been in tremendous form over the past month.
"We know that Dwayne has been having a good season," said Dynamo forward Ronald Cerritos. "But in our team we don't depend on anybody, in our team everybody is working hard and in the end when the ref blows the whistle its 11 against 11 and the better team is going to win."
The two clubs have a great history of matches as they comprised one of the best rivalries in MLS, when the Houston club was playing as the San Jose Earthquakes. Even with the greater distance between the teams, the fierce rivalry still lingers as many players remain from the classic playoff battles over the past few years.
"I think within the locker rooms there is still a bit of that dislike," said Kinnear. "And you still want to beat each other -- you want to win every game, but I think you really enjoy it when you beat your rival and for the last four years it was that way."
With the season winding down the jockeying for playoff position has begun and Dynamo have a good chance to catch FC Dallas as they face the Hoops three times in the next month -- twice in league play, beginning with Saturday's match at Robertson Stadium, and then a third time as the clubs will meet in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on Aug. 23, also in Houston.
"That game (Wednesday) for us is a pretty important game it's like a six-point game because we want to catch Dallas first," said Cerritos. "We want to make the playoffs and obviously L.A. is in last place so for them it's going to be a very important game. But we especially want to make a good impression for all the people at [Reliant] Stadium."
Scott Joiner is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
