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Dynamo Host Santos Laguna in First Leg of Champions League Quarterfinals Tonight

March 5, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS) - Houston Dynamo FC News Release


HOUSTON, TX (Tuesday, March 5, 2013) - The Houston Dynamo host Santos Laguna tonight at BBVA Compass Stadium in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. CT and tickets are still available at www.HoustonDynamo.com or at the stadium box office (2200 Texas St., Houston).

The Champions League is an annual 24-team tournament featuring the best club teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean. This is the fifth appearance for the Dynamo in the regional championship and first quarterfinal appearance since 2009.

The Dynamo advanced to the quarterfinals by winning Group 3 last fall while Santos Laguna reached this stage by winning Group 1. Tonight marks the very first meeting between the clubs.

The second leg of the two-game, aggregate score series is on Wednesday, March 13 at Estadio Corona in Torreon, Mexico. The club with more total goals from the two games will advance to the semifinals, which begin April 2-4. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League will qualify for the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, to be held in December in Morocco.

Tonight's match will be broadcast on Fox Soccer and can be heard on Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM and La Ranchera 850 AM (Spanish).

Santos Laguna fell to Monterrey, 3-2, in the Champions League final last May. Los Guerreros are currently in sixth place in the Mexican League (4-2-3, 15 points), six points behind first-place Tigres. Santos is unbeaten in its last three games in Liga MX, including a 3-1 win over Jaguares de Chiapas on Friday.

Santos is led by Mexican international Oribe Peralta, who has scored five goals in seven games this season. United States international Hercules Gomez has three goals in nine games, including two goals in Friday's 3-1 win over Jaguares. Colombian forward Carlos Quintero has two goals and an assist in his last three games. Goalkeeper and captain Oswaldo Sanchez has made 99 appearances for the Mexican national team.

Santos debuted in the Mexican first division in the 1988-89 season and has won Liga MX four times (1996, 2001, 2008, 2012). The club selected its first European head coach last November when it hired Portuguese manager Pedro Caixinha.

The Dynamo carry a 31-game home unbeaten streak in all competitions into tonight's game. The Dynamo have not lost a home game in more than 20 months, with their last home defeat a 2-0 loss to Columbus on June 18, 2011.


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