FRISCO, Texas -- Coaching a team in MLS Cup is not a new experience for Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. But it is a new experience for him as the head coach.
Kinnear was a San Jose assistant to Frank Yallop for both of his MLS Cup championships with the Earthquakes, which came in 2001 and 2003, but this season marks Kinnear's first shot at a title as the main man on the bench. Dynamo facing the New England Revolution at 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday is an experience he clearly anticipates savoring.
"Obviously, it will be more nervy and have more anxiety," Kinnear said after training on Friday. "Going into the last two (MLS Cups), my job was to help Frank (Yallop) prepare and get the team ready. Now, it's more of a responsibility for me."
Kinnear wants his side to prevail on Sunday for several different reasons.
"First and foremost, I want the guys to play well and win for them because they've been great the whole year," Kinnear said. "I'm more nervous now because I have more responsibility and because the major decisions now fall on my shoulders. I don't mind that but it's a little different being a head coach than an assistant in this game."
His team spent much of the regular season playing in the shadow of their in-state rival, FC Dallas, who finished atop the Western Conference table with 52 points, six points ahead of second-place Houston. But Kinnear's squad clearly had the Hoops' number, beating them twice in the Bayou City and tying them once in Frisco.
Their only loss to FCD came on Sept. 2, when they fell 1-0 in a match that saw Dynamo play a man down after Eddie Robinson was sent off early. Add in a 3-0 blanking of the Hoops in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup in mid-August and the true nature of Houston's dominance over their fellow Texas side was apparent.
But in the playoffs, the slate is wiped clean and while FCD fell to Colorado in the Western Conference Semifinal Series, Houston handled Chivas USA and then dispatched the Rapids last weekend in Houston to earn a berth in MLS Cup in their inaugural season. Meanwhile, FCD, who could have played in the Cup final on their home pitch, sits at home.
"I think the reason people were talking about Dallas more is because they were more consistent in the regular season," Kinnear said. "We had chances to catch them and never really seemed to get on a good roll. They always seemed to get on a roll as far as results go.
"But once you get into the playoffs, you know that anything could happen. That showed last year with (fourth-seeded) Los Angeles coming in, taking the playoffs by storm and winning the final."
Once the playoffs started, Kinnear knew his side has as much of a chance to win the championship as any of the other seven teams in the postseason. "Against Colorado, they're so unpredictable that we always thought that there was a chance they might be able to nip one away from Dallas and we would get to host the (Western) final (the following week)," he said.
"The semifinals and quarterfinals worked out well," Kinnear said. "Luckily for us, we only have to drive up the freeway 300 miles or so (to Frisco). So, we're expecting a good wave of support from the Orange. We have one more game to go.
"There are two teams here and fighting for the trophy. I think you saw with the energy we had out here today that the guys are happy to be here. I think they understand the importance of what is going on Sunday at 2:30."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
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