The Dynamo welcome reigning Liga MX champions Santos Laguna to Houston on Saturday for the BBVA Compass Dynamo Charities Cup. Here are five Santos players to watch.
Nestor Calderon: An attacking midfielder, the 26-year-old is one of the creative playmakers for manager Pako Ayestaran. The Jalisco native led Santos Laguna with six goals last season and has played with the Mexico national team after spells with the U-23s and U-20s. He is one of only four holdovers from the Santos team that beat the Dynamo in the 2013 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals and the only current player who played in both legs, entering at halftime in the first and starting the decisive home leg, a 3-0 Santos win.
Javier Orozco: The king of Champions League scoring, Orozco has 24 career CONCACAF Champions League goals, the most in history. He has twice won a CCL golden boot and scored four goals in one game against Real Salt Lake in 2010. Orozco, 27, also scored four goals in Santos’ memorable 5-0 victory over Queretaro in the first leg of the 2015 Liga MX Clausura final in May. A native of Sinaloa, Orozco spent eight years with Cruz Azul before joining Santos in 2013. He was a part of Mexico’s Gold Cup-winning squad this July.
Diego Gonzalez: Nicknamed “Pulpo”, the Argentinian box-to-box midfielder drives the team. The 27-year-old signed with Santos Laguna in December after eight years with Lanus in his hometown of Buenos Aires
Djaniny Tavares: The Cape Verde national team forward joined Santos from Nacional in the Portuguese first division in June 2014 and scored the game-winning goal against Tigres in the Clausura quarterfinals last spring. Known as Djaniny, the speedy winger and center forward leads Santos with three goals this season.
Carlos Izquierdoz: The central defender from Argentina joined Santos in 2014 and is already the club captain. Like Diego Gonzalez, he came up through the Lanus youth system and the pair were teammates in Argentina from 2009-14 before Izquierdoz made the move to Mexico.
