The Houston Dynamo kicked off their 2022 slate of preseason friendlies with a matchup against Dynamo 2, the franchise’s MLS Next Pro team. The match offered both sides an opportunity to play in a competitive setting for the first time under new Houston Dynamo head coach Paulo Nagamura.
According to the Dynamo head coach, he was pleased with the team’s performance in this first preseason match.
“It was a very good exercise. I think the team showed great signs of what we’re trying to implement,” Nagamura said. “I think the biggest goal is to keep building the fitness of the guys, there’s going to be a lot of games coming up. Overall I’m pleased with what they accomplished in terms of what we wanted to implement this week and we just have to keep pushing and building from this.”
The Dynamo lineups included some faces that fans are familiar with from last season, including defender Tim Parker, forward Fafa Picault and midfielder Darwin Quintero, as well as some fresh faces within the organization, such as recently acquired designated player and forward Sebastian Ferreira.
In addition to this being the first competitive match under Nagamura, it also marked the debut of Dynamo 2 head coach Kenny Bundy. For Bundy, who was announced as the team’s head coach only yesterday, his primary objective in this match was to help the first team prepare for their season.
“Our goal with Dynamo 2 was to prepare the first team for their trip to Tuscon,” Bundy said. “We wanted to make sure that we gave them things that they could go back on and see successes and see things they can improve. But we really wanted to make sure that we helped them in their preparation, because their season is coming up. Overall, the evaluation for this game was how well did we help out the first team, and I think we did that.”
The next time the Dynamo will be in action is on February 2, when the team takes on Real Salt Lake at 12 PM CST from the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona.
