Down 1-0 after the first leg of the MLS Western Conference Semifinal Series would get a lot of teams nervous, panicky and looking for urgency. But, Houston Dynamo are still as cool as the other side of the pillow.
This is not uncharted territory for the Orange, who went down by a goal last season in the Western Conference Semifinals against Chivas USA, only to defeat Chivas at Robertson Stadium to move on.
"That helps the fact that we've been behind," said Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad. "This team has been behind in worse deficits and come back. We certainly don't want to dig a deficit like we had in 2003. It's something to be cautious of. One goal is definitely not insurmountable. It's not hard to come back from that, but if you make it two or three, then you are in big trouble. You have to make sure you take care of things on your own end and make sure you are tight defensively and hopefully, when your opportunity comes, you take them."
With a veteran team, the experience of trailing in a playoff series helps. While other teams might start trying to do some things different, Houston is going about Friday's game against FC Dallas at Robertson just like any other game -- with a little added importance.
"We have a lot of guys who have played playoff games in multiple situations -- being down two goals, being down four goals, being down one goal, being up goals," said Houston defender Eddie Robinson. "We still have 90 minutes against a team that we have had the better of all year and I think we had the better of last weekend. We were unlucky that we couldn't finish. I couldn't finish. I had numerous chances.
"We're really confident, but we aren't overconfident. We aren't thinking that it's going to take care of itself. Guys are still working hard in training. Guys still know what they have to do on Friday night, but we aren't too worried about it. If we're still down a goal in the 85th minute, then we will be worried, but as for now, we're just taking things as a normal week, normal training.
"We aren't changing anything in our training. I don't have any doubt we aren't going to win even if it takes overtime. If we would have had an extra 30 minutes in Dallas, I think we would have scored. Our goal right now is to win the 90 minutes."
Dynamo should be healthy when they take the field on Friday against FC Dallas and can't wait to take the field.
"Friday can't come fast enough," said Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear. "We need to just go out there and play a game and win. At the end, we need to win. We need to score. Probably we need to come out from the get go with a nice aggressive, strong approach. Hopefully, the referee takes care of fouls when the ball turns over because we thought that was a problem in Dallas. Anytime they turned over the ball, they fouled us to break up our rhythm, so hopefully, the referee is on top of that. But just to get the ball forward and get it in and put them under pressure."
Houston is no longer thinking of the 1-0 loss in Frisco last Saturday as they look forward to Friday's second leg of the series. They know they have to score multiple goals in order to advance. Now, the current MLS Cup champions will do whatever it takes to move on in defense of their championship.
"We don't look back, we look forward. You can't go back, the game is over," Kinnear said. "We talked about it two days ago, so now we are looking forward to Friday. The guys all know the scenario and what we need to do. Plus, we went through it last year. In the playoffs, if you continue to look back, you're going to be out and home before you know it.
"It's just your confidence and your attitude going into the game. These guys aren't panicking. They know it can happen. All it is one goal. Just takes a little bit of magic, one little bit of good play, a little bit of luck, a mistake we capitalize on. I think the guys knows that's all it takes."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
