Quincy Amerikwa (24) will be available for San Jose for the first time since being traded.
San Jose looks to bounce back from their stoppage time loss in Portland when they return home to face the Houston Dynamo who are 4 points back of the Quakes after a 1-1 draw against Chicago. This is the second meeting between the two teams, the first being a 1-0 win for the Quakes on the road in Dominic Kinnear’s return to Houston. San Jose currently sits 2 points back of Sporting KC for the 6th and final playoff spot while Houston is a further 4 points back of the Quakes in 9th place.
Both teams will have to overcome the absences of their players away on national duty. San Jose will have to find a way to get their offense going without their captain and leading scorer Chris Wondolowski as well as Cordell Cato who has come off the bench and filled numerous roles for the Quakes. Houston will be missing starters Luis Garrido, Giles Barnes, and Jermaine Taylor giving way to reserves who have seen limited minutes in the regular season.
San Jose will have Quincy Amerikwa available for the first time this match after trading for the forward at the end of June. Amerikwa was unavailable to play for San Jose until the Summer transfer window officially opened on July 8th and will now be looked upon to add depth to the attack. Mark Sherrod will likely start at forward this game while Amerikwa becomes accustomed to his new team but it’s not unlikely for Kinnear to bring the former Quake off the bench if the team is still searching for a game winner.
Houston will be hoping their reserve players Mauro Manotas and Alex can step into the starting lineup and be effective against a San Jose defense that has given up an average of a goal per game this season but will be without the suspended Jordan Stewart. The team has been impressed with their performances in US Open Cup matches and is confident in the players. They are also hoping to have Brad Davis healthy after suffering a right knee bone bruise that ruled him out of the USMNT Gold Cup roster. Their biggest concern though will be shoring up their defense as the team has the highest goals allowed mark in the Western Conference.
For the Quakes to get another win at home, they’ll need to pick up their offense and find a way to finish scoring opportunities, something that has been a problem as of late. Should Matias Perez Garcia miss the match to a hamstring injury, they’ll look towards Tommy Thompson to control the center of the pitch and wingers Sanna Nyassi and Shea Salinas to use their speed to open gaps in the Houston defense.
The match kicks off from Avaya Stadium at 8 pm PDT on Friday, July 10th and will be nationally broadcast on UniMas.
