F11

I have been fortunate to be a resident of the state of Hawaii during the Pan-Pacific Championships. I was on the field for all four games capturing the behind-the-scenes look at the PPC. But at the end of the tournament, I put the video camera a side and came to one conclusion: Houston we have a problem!

There will be no meaningless detailed report of the game here, but all you need to know is that the Japanese side routed the Dynamo 6-1 in the final. Gamba only scored one goal on the loosely torn Galaxy but managed to dominate the defending MLS champions. And if you saw the goals, they were incredible goals.

So from one game, someone can prematurely conclude that the MLS continues to need work based on the fact that a third place J-League team can dominate the MLS champions. But as we know, the sport of football can be deceiving if you don’t know what you are looking for. I will say Houston is a better side than they showed, but that one game can reiterate in some minds that Houston’s problem is also the league’s problem. It’s the criticism that comes along with being the newest face in the sport.