"Not a bad place to come for a soccer match, huh?," Dynamo forward Brian Ching asked me upon my arrival here last night. All I could say was,"I guess not!" I didn't really know what the place was like ...having never been here before. I've been to other Mexican destinations ...but never Cancun. Also coming in at night ....you can't get a real feel for the beauty of the place. (Photographer Ernesto Torres and I got in late last night due to a delay coming out of Houston and another 1 1/2 hour stop in the customs office upon our arrival here.)

We awoke this morning to a sunny sky and the site of beautiful aqua colored surf pounding against the beach. I asked midfielder Brian Mullen if it's going to be tough concentrating on the task at hand. "No ...we know why we're here," Mullen told me. Mullen is coming off a solid performance against Montreal in this past Saturday's scrimmage at Robertson Stadium ..and although he doesn't do many interviews .... he's one of the leaders of the Dynamo. If the Dynamo beat Atlante' FC Cancun Tuesday night ..... they could play Montreal in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final. Montreal and Santos (another Mexican team) are matched up in another quarter-final bracket.

The Dynamo put themselves in a tough spot last Tuesday night ... when they were tied by Atlante' 1-1 in the home leg of this aggregate scored 2 game series. The Dynamo dominated play most of the match ...but gave up a late score to spoil the outing. Now the Dynamo must win tuesday night or tie by scoring two goals or more to advance in the Champions Cup tournament. It can be done ...but it won't be easy. As I said ...no MLS team has ever done it before. Atlante' is in mid-season form ...while the Dynamo MLS season doesn't even start for 2 1/2 weeks. Also defender Bobby Boswell is battling flu-like symptoms ...and had to sit out today's practice. Julius James ...a newcomer acquired from Toronto in the DeRosario trade ....will have to step up his game if Boswell can't go. Also it's only the 2nd actual game that Stewart Holden is starting at the attacking midfield position. Yes ...there are plenty of questions the Dynamo need to answer tuesday night ....but a win here would show to everyone in Mexico and the U.S. just how strong this team could be in 2009. The game will be televised here on ESPN Deportes. I agree with Ching ..."This isn't a bad place to come for a soccer match."