After a 10-hour flight from Houston to Amsterdam and a two-hour bus ride from Amsterdam to Groningen, the Houston Dynamo Academy U-17s kicked off their 10-day trip to the Netherlands with a 5-0 win over a U-18 team comprised of the top players from the club teams in North Groningen. The game was played in the town of Bedum, birthplace of Dutch international and Bayern Munich superstar Arjen Robben.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM DAY ONE OF THE TRIP
Although the players from Groningen had a significant height advantage over their Houston counterparts, the Dynamo’s speed gave the Dutch squad’s backline fits and proved troublesome during the 80-minute match.
Lorenzo Salazar put Houston on the board in the ninth minute after calmly receiving a long ball from left back Alex Ochoa. Salazar beat one defender, used his body to shield off another, and fired a left-footed strike past the Dutch goalkeeper.
Houston doubled its lead in the 21st minute. Bryan Salazar played a corner kick to the near post, and Leo Ayala came streaking into the box to knock the ball into the back of the net.
Although there was a steady rain in the first half, which followed a thunderstorm that delayed the start of the game 20 minutes, the Dynamo continued to press forward. In the 31st minute, Lorenzo Salazar pressured a backpass to the goalkeeper, which resulted in the keeper playing the ball to an open Bryan Salazar. Bryan dribbled past the oncoming defender and fired past the goalkeeper to extend the Dynamo lead.
With an unlimited amount of subs, and no rules against re-entry, the Dynamo brought on five subs to start the second half to allow the full squad to stretch its legs after a long day of travel.
In the 43rd minute, Gabriel Moreno extended the Dynamo lead to 4-0 after he picked up a loose ball from 35 yards out and sent a long ball on net, catching the Dutch goalkeeper off his line. Alan Arellano sealed the game for Houston in the 74th minute after he stole the ball from a Dutch defender and sent a rocket past the goalkeeper to give the Dynamo a 5-0 win.
Goalkeepers Adam Masa and Juan Navarrete each played a half for Houston, helping the squad to its first shutout of the trip.
The Dynamo will train tomorrow and will resume game action on Tuesday in a friendly against Vitesse at 3:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. CT). Complete coverage of the Dynamo Academy's trip can be found on HoustonDynamo.com/Eurovoetbal.
Houston Dynamo 5, Dutch regional select team 0
June 05, 2011 -- Bedum, Groningen, the Netherlands
Pre-tournament scrimmage
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Lorenzo Salazar (Alex Ochoa) 8
HOU -- Leo Ayala (Bryan Salazar) 21
HOU -- Bryan Salazar (unassisted) 30
HOU -- Gabriel Moreno (unassisted) 43
HOU -- Alan Arellano (unassisted) 72
Houston Dynamo -- Adam Masa (Juan Navarrete 41), Christian Gonzalez (Bradley Bourgeois 41), Leo Ayala (Christian Diaz 62), Luis Mendoza, Alex Ochoa, Bryan Salazar (Raffi Gregorian 63), Christian Manisck (Bryan Celis 41), Christian Diaz (Miguel Zapata 41), Gabriel Moreno (Christian Manisck 66), Raffi Gregorian (Alan Arellano 41), Lorenzo Salazar (Isaiah Noreiga 65, Gabriel Moreno 76).
Substitutes Not Used: Raymundo Marquez.
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
