The sport of soccer must have a big part in the city of Houston. After the Houston Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution for the second time in a row to win the most prestigious award in American soccer--the MLS Cup--the Houston Dynamo squad returned home from Washington DC after the match on November 18th with a hero's welcome. A celebration and rally took place on the steps of city hall and was attended by not only fans but also Houston city officials and politicians on Tuesday November 20th.
In front of thousands of fans, Houston mayor Bill White, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and many city council members, including City Councilman Adrian Garcia, Houston Dynamo club president Oliver Luck thanked the fans for the success: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the effort, fight and lack of quit that epitomizes the Houston Dynamo squad and head coach Dominic Kinnear himself."
Hip-hop star Mike Jones also performend at the rally. Here is a video from youtube of his performance:
Latin band Orquesta Samerum performed as well.
Coach Kinnear gave all the credit for the repeat to his players: "I want to thank the players. Without the players, we're not here tonight celebrating two championships."
"You got to love it!" the coach shouted over the cheering of 2,500 fans (according to mls.net).
The celebration was marked by the announcement that plans are being drawn out regarding a soccer-specific stadium for the best team in Major League Soccer.
Before the announcements were officially made, many fans were one step ahead chanting ""Where's our stadium? Where's our stadium?" towards the politicans in attendance. It was councilman Adrian Garcia that stood up and gave them the answer they were looking for: "Let's make it happen!"
She then explained the negotiations that were already on the table between city hall and the Dynamo club.
The Dynamo stadium, which will be located on the east side of downtown Houston, is a big part of Major League Soccer's ongoing project: to get soccer more attention in a country where football is the sport of choice. Several MLS clubs have already made the move out of football stadiums to soccer-specific stadiums. These include the Colorado Rapids and DC United as well as other teams, The New York Red Bulls are currently building Red Bull Park in Harrison, New Jersey, and Toronto FC played their 2007 inaugural season in BMO Field-soccer-specific stadium in Toronto. A big goal od Major League soccer, as a part of this expansion project, is to increase the number of clubs to 18 by 2012 from the current 13. By 2009, they will already have 15clubs with the return of the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2008 season and the introduction of a Seattle-based team for the 2009 season. There is also a belief that another New York-New Jersey area club will be established in Queens and these rumors are currently on Wikipedia (see the "Expansion, contraction and relocation" section of this entry). There is also a rumor and hope from New York soccer fans who are upset about the commercialism that Red Bull brought to the old MetroStars franchise and are hoping that the new Queens-based club will take on the MetroStars name.
Dynamo forward Ngwenya, who scored the first goal against the New England Revolution at the the MLS Cup final and is currently on his way to Germany to try out for a team in their league's second divison, commented: "It's an honor to be here with the fans. They have been great all season."
Here is a youtube video with clips of the MLS Cup final:
Here is a video from youtube of the penalty kicks that gave Houston Dynamo the win over the New England Revolution the first time in the 2006 MLS Cup last year after tying it 1-1 after overtime:
Click here for the official 2007 MLS Cup Match Report.
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