Dynamo sign Forward Kai Kamara

In an effort to address their front line and offense, the Houston Dynamo, who have been resorting to pushing midfielders into forward positions, obtained Forward Kai Kamara from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for a first round pick in the 2009 draft.

Kamara, 23, is a Sierra Leone national who played for the Columbus Crew prior to joining the Earthquakes. Kamara has scored two goals against the Dynamo this season.

The Dynamo are coming off two victories against D.C. United at RFK, one in SuperLiga and one in a MLS fixture, and will be facing Pachuca in the SuperLiga Semifinals on Tuesday. Both Kamara and Nat Jaqua are scheduled to suit up for the Dynamo against Pachuca.

http://houston.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080724&content_id=175412&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&team=t200

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/5906441.html

DCU v. Dynamo - Finally

They managed to get the match underway again, and while D.C. United tried to take advantage of the swamp the Dynamo defense found itself in, Brian Ching scored on a header in the 79th minute, putting the Dynamo up by two goals, and that's how the scoreline stayed into the early hour of Thursday morning.

Honestly, my biggest concern during the last minutes of the match was that nobody would get injured cause of the conditions.

They're going to try to restart the match at 11:40 D.C. time. We'll see what happens.

Refs are back out to inspect the pitch.

Sounds like there is more lightning in the area. Remember, most of the last Metro runs are midnight if not a little earlier, so even if they get started again, many fans will be leaving by midnight.

Around 10:10 D.C. time, the parties agreed to wait 30 minutes, but it's still raining in D.C.

Lights working, lightning passed, but still raining. We'll see what the refs say.

Word coming from someone at the stadium is that there was an announcement that they have until 1:00 a.m. D.C. time to finish the match.

Here's a look at what the pitch looks like thanks to the folks at http://behindthebadge.com/









Sounds like the lightning has passed, but they are still having trouble with the lights. I think it's time to call this match.

Well, know we get an episode of Married with Children.

Radar shows the entire District of Columbia covered in strong storms.

Joy of Joys . . . now a bulk of the lights have gone out due to a power surge, and the Ref has sent everyone off the pitch in the 54th minute.

Sounds like the rain is very, very heavy, but no lightning at the moment. Still no video from channel 55.

The second half has started, with rain coming done. Unfortunately, it seems that while the game is ongoing, Channel 55 has lost the video feed due to the weather.

Halftime --- Dynamo lead 1-0

Patrick Ianni comes in in the 42nd minute to replace an injured Eddie Robinson . . . again (left hamstring strain).

After two postponements, the DCU v. Dynamo match is finally under way at RFK in Washington, D.C. They were scheduled to play last month, but the field was soaked with too much rain. The match was rescheduled for last night, but power outages in SE D.C. delayed the game till tonight.

But there is bad weather in the area, a Tornado and Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Prince William County, Virginia, while D.C. is under a Thunderstorm Watch till late in the evening. So keep your fingers crossed the storms will avoid RFK.

Brian Mullan has already put the Dynamo on the scoreboard with a goal in the 20th minute.

Dynamo Win Group A - Advance to SuperLiga Semi-Finals

For the second year in a row, the Houston Dynamo have advanced to the Semi-Finals of SuperLiga. This year, Houston won its group with 2 wins and 1 loss. The first win came against Atlante last Saturday, 4-0, then lost to Chivas on Tuesday, 1-0, and then defeated DC United, 3-1, on Saturday night. Saturday's victory over United ensured that Houston would move on to the Semi-Finals, but it was thanks to Atlante for beating Chivas, 2-0, despite the pro-Chivas atmosphere in Santa Clara, that pushed Houston into the spot of winner of Group A.

The outcomes of Sunday night's matches in Group B will determine who the Dynamo face in the Semi-Final, a match that should be in Houston.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/5897459.html

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=783833

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/19/AR2008071902167.html

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/20/sports/SOC-Dynamo-DC-United.php

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=784363

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/20/sports/SOC-Chivas-Atlante.php

Pictures from Free Kick Masters

I've finally developed and uploaded pictures from the Free Kick Masters event held in Houston on July 5, 2008:

http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/bzygo/Free%20Kick%20Masters/

Dynamo Round-Up

As most readers know, last Saturday the Dynamo beat Atlante 4-0 and then lost 1-0 to Chivas on Tuesday. On Saturday, the Dynamo square off against D.C. United for the third and final group stage match of SuperLiga 2008.

Franco Carracio started for the Dynamo on Tuesday night, but, despite a good performance, he will not be with the Dynamo on Saturday because he has been released and placed on waivers.

Brian Ching should be available for Saturday night's match.

Former Dynamo forward Nate Jaqua will be returning to the squad after spending this past Spring playing for SC Rheindorf Altach of Austria's Bundesliga. Some Dynamo fans had been hoping that Joseph Ngwenya would be returning from Austria too, but he's on trial with Bayern Munich. Expect to see Jaqua suited up at RFK on Tuesday the 22nd.

Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad and midfielder/forward Dwayne De Rosario will be representing the Dynamo in the MLS All Star game in Toronto next week.

Dynamo's Stuart Holden and Patrick Ianni have been selected to represent the United States in the Olympics next month.

Chivas Comes Town

On Saturday night, the Houston Dynamo soundly defeated Atlante, 4 - 0, in their opening match of the group stage of SuperLiga 2008. Three of the Dynamo's goals came within a nine minute span during the middle of the first halft.

Tonight, Tuesday July 15, the Dynamo host Chivas de Guadalajara, in what could be one of the toughest matches of the tournament for the Dynamo. The Houston club will be hampered by the fact that Dwayne De Rosario is suspended due to a red card in the Atlante match, and Brian Ching, Richard Mulrooney, and Eddie Robinson are all sidelined with injuries.

We'll see if the victory over Atlante will give the rest of the Dynamo squad the confidence to step up and beat Chivas.

New Episodes

Of World Soccer Wrap and World Soccer Wrap: Serie A, are now available for download at iTunes or at:

http://rss.mac.com/rayharatian/iWeb/Site/Podcast/rss.xml

This week's flagship show includes an interview with Kasey Keller and an exclusive with Jozy Altidore.

This week's Serie A show features an interview with Inter Milan's Francesco Toldo.