Monday’s practice session provided the Houston Dynamo with a mix of good and bad news. The team looks as if it has gained one player, Geoff Cameron, for Thursday, but it will be without Adrian Serioux.
Serioux limped off the field during Saturday’s game against New York in the 68th minute and did not look good. The defender did not practice with the full team on Monday.
WATCH:MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: HOU 2, NY 2
“He has a hamstring strain, and he’ll be out for Thursday,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear confirmed.
The Serioux injury leaves the team even more short-handed, as Joseph Ngwenya, Dominic Oduro, and Danny Cruz will each be suspended from Thursday night’s SuperLiga semifinal due to either red cards against Puebla in the final group stage game or the accumulation of too many yellows throughout the tournament.
On the positive side, midfielder Geoff Cameron — who has been out since suffering a knee injury on April 24 against the Chicago Fire — seems likely to get playing time on Thursday against Morelia. With Sunday’s league game on the turf in Seattle and Cameron not fully fit, it seems likely that the Dynamo staff will want to incorporate Cameron into the squad and start to build his match fitness in the SuperLiga semifinal.
“I will hopefully dress up and get some minutes [on Thursday],” Cameron said. “We will see how tomorrow and Wednesday go, but today was full-go and no problems, and I did that some last week also.”
Cameron has been frustrated while sitting out and watching Houston struggle, but he hopes to have improved his mental side of the game.
“It is an eye-opener, and it has shown me a lot mentally in the game,” Cameron said. “I'm learning the game more, watching film, and hopefully that will help my game when I get back.”
While Cameron does not know where Kinnear will want him to play, the young midfielder knows that he still has some work to do on his game and his fitness to put his best foot forward.
“I am getting stuck in tackles, I am feeling good, and I am getting fitter and fitter,” Cameron said. “However, it is tough when you get tired, as your touch lets you down. You can tell at the end of practice, my touch is off a little. I get so exhausted from doing fitness every day and trying to do the extra stuff, but that is slowly dying down, and my touch will get better.”
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSsoccer.com. Questions or comments can be sent via email to dwaincapodice@gmail.com.
