Goal.com’s Pat Walsh tries to look on the bright side of D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo’s failure to advance to the Champions Cup semifinals. He says that American teams are no longer the embarrassment they used to be in international competitions. “Gone are the days where American sides are dispatched in the way that Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks.” Now, he says, “The next step is to find a team that can become the MLS version of Buster Douglas.”
These were far from embarrassing performances. Houston, in particular, received a lot of flak for failing to score over the two legs or put up much of a fight in Costa Rica. But Walsh points out that the injury-depleted Dynamo were faced with a mammoth task against a team that’s still unbeaten at home all-time in the Champions Cup. Conceding two first-half goals from errors effectively killed the game.
Meanwhile, United equipped themselves well against Pachuca, which Walsh describes as the best team in North America over the past 18 months. United was wasteful in the first half, and should have paid the price when Mexican side scored with fifteen minutes to go, but they showed great character to come from behind and snag the victory. “They did themselves, and the league, proud,” Walsh says.