Like any striker, when he picked up the ball within sight of goal Mauro Manotas’s first instinct was to shoot.
But the Dynamo’s new signing resisted the temptation to try for a debut goal, instead sliding a perfectly-weighted pass through the defense for fellow substitute Ricardo Clark, whose cool stoppage-time finish sealed a 2-0 U.S. Open Cup win over the Austin Aztex on Wednesday night.
The incisive moment was a glimpse of the potential that persuaded the Dynamo to bring the 19-year-old to Houston from his native Colombia. Beyond the individual flair, for head coach Owen Coyle it was a positive sign for the team as a whole as the Dynamo prepare to face the Portland Timbers in MLS on Saturday night (9:30 p.m. CT, ROOT Sports) missing several key players.
Coyle’s twin aims of securing fringe players productive match action and progressing to the next round of the Cup were realized at BBVA Compass Stadium. He made ten changes for the match and liked what he saw. With the team set to take on the Timbers without Jamaican internationals Giles Barnes and Jermaine Taylor and the injured Brad Davis and Boniek García, the Texas derby was perfectly-timed as Coyle plots a modified lineup.
“It was important that those players got that match time given the international commitments we will face,” he told reporters after the win. “That’s important for us that we have that strength in depth that we know if we’re missing a few players that one or two can step in and I think it helps the players as well because physically they feel better for that 90 minutes … They’re going to step into a tough environment which Portland is, but we also know as well that we played them not long back and we know how well the Dynamo played when we defeated them 3-1.”
His appearance as a 69th-minute substitute certainly helped Manotas, who integrated well with his teammates even though he’s only been training with them since the start of the month. “I’m very happy, I’ve been waiting for this since the day I got here really and to be able to make my debut the way I made it is really a plus. We got a victory which is the most important thing, I was able to contribute to that victory so all in all it was a very good night,” he said through a translator.
“Even though I’m a forward my job is to think about the team first. This was one of those opportunities where one of my teammates had a better opportunity to score — granted of course my first instinct was to try and score. But Ricardo had a better look, I passed the ball and the rest is history.”
The teenager, signed from Uniautónoma, is also feeling comfortable off the field. “When I got here my first fear was the culture shock, coming to a foreign country, a foreign language and foreign culture but luckily things have been completely the opposite, the team has received me really well, I’ve been able to adapt really well, I’ve been allocated to a host family that has treated me incredibly well and that has made things really easy for me, I feel like I’m right at home,” he said.
Wednesday was also a good night for another South American acquisition who will hope to play a part at Providence Park. Leonel Miranda, the winger signed on loan from Argentina’s Independiente, grabbed his first Dynamo goal in his first start since the draw with the Colorado Rapids on March 28.
“Just very happy, very excited I got the opportunity, very excited I scored the goal. I needed it — it was something I was yearning for, not only the opportunity to score. I was very happy, very satisfied with the way the team’s played, not only in MLS but also in the cup. It’s obvious the team has good depth and it showed,” he told reporters through a translator.
“He certainly did himself a lot of good tonight and I’m very pleased for him because he’s a very hardworking, conscientious young man, he’s certainly adapted to life in MLS which I can tell you from learning my own experience, what I’ve seen since coming and still continuing to learn within the league, it’s a very tough league, a very high standard, it’s getting better all the time,” Coyle said.
“He’s certainly adapting now. The positional sense — he understands what’s required of him in terms of how we play, which is probably slightly different to how he played at Independiente.”
The result and performance gives Coyle a welcome selection headache as the side heads to the Pacific Northwest to face the in-form Timbers. The Dynamo beat them at home on May 16 courtesy of two goals from Will Bruin and one from Barnes. Caleb Porter’s men lost their next match to Toronto FC. Since, they’ve beaten D.C. United, the Rapids and the New England Revolution to lift themselves into the top six in the Western Conference, two points better off than the Dynamo.
Coyle’s side will be on the road again to face FC Dallas on June 26, before returning to BBVA Compass Stadium to host the Colorado Rapids in U.S. Open Cup play on June 30, then Chicago Fire on July 3.
Tom Dart is a contributing writer to HoustonDynamo.com and HoustonDashSoccer.com. Former editor and reporter for The Times of London and reporter for SI.com, Dart currently freelances for The Guardian.
