Matamoros: Copa Chivas, Day 3

The Dynamo Academy's Abe Matamoros will be blogging for MyDynamo.net and Chron.com during the Dynamo Academy U-18 trip to Guadalajara, Mexico to play in the prestigious Copa Chivas tournament.

Day 3 of the Chivas Cup. We were finally able to sleep in a little today, since our kickoff was at 12:30. Breakfast was the same as the past few days, but the meeting was a little different. James made each player write three things that we would do in today’s game to help the team win.

After the meeting, we left for the game, this time taking place in Valle Verde. The fields there are a lot bigger, and in my opinion, the surface is much better than those of the previous fields we have played on.

Chivas had a great team, and they gave us a really hard time. In the first half they scored two goals, but C.J. Odenigwe once again was able to score off a corner kick from Martin Castillo. Halftime came around, and we were still in the game, with the score being 2-1.

A slow start to the second half proved costly, as they scored two early goals, making it difficult to get back in the game. The final score was 5-1.

After the game, we returned to the hotel, and most of us went to our hotel rooms to fall asleep. These games have been extremely tiring for all of us, especially since the intensity has been so high. To finish off the day we went for a walk, stretched, and ate dinner. Tomorrow we have the day off, so hopefully we can fully recover in order to be ready for our game against Monterrey on Tuesday.

Editor's Note: Here is the Dynamo Academy schedule for the tournament:
Friday Jan. 22 Club America 2, Houston Dynamo 0
Saturday Jan. 23 Japan 4, Houston Dynamo 1
Sunday Jan. 24 12:30 p.m. Chivas 5, Houston Dynamo 1
Tuesday Jan. 26 10:00 a.m. vs. Monterrey
Wednesday Jan. 27 12:30 p.m. vs. Morelia

Group C	W	L	T	Pts	GD
Chivas	2	0	1	7	+5
Morelia	2	0	1	7	+2
Japan	1	1	1	4	+2
Monterrey	1	1	1	4	0
Club America	1	2	0	3	0
Dynamo	0	3	0	0	-10