HOUSTON – Houston Dynamo midfielder and Young Designated Player Tomás Martinez could make his season debut Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps after missing the season opener.
Martinez — who was suspended for the season opener due to getting red carded in last season’s second leg of the Western Conference finals against the Seattle Sounders — watched from the stands as his team bossed Atlanta United en route to a 4-0 victory.
And the Argentine playmaker was impressed.
“I saw it from the stands and honestly the team did a great job,” Martinez said earlier this week after Houston’s training session. “We were solid, we attacked at the right moments and it was a great game against a great opponent, which is why we got the three points.”
The 23-year-old, who will don the No. 10 for the Orange this season is ready to join in on the fun.
“I am confident. I think I prepared well during the preseason. Yes, I did miss the first game due to a suspension, but you have to be always ready to play,” Martinez said. “El Profe (head coach Wilmer Cabrera) will pick who will play, and those who play will have to have a to be ready to help the team.”
Season expectations for Tomás Martinez
What is Cabrera expecting from Martinez on the field?
“We hope he brings his mentality, his technique, his passing, his work and his ideas on the field, as well as his personality. He has a great personality,” Cabrera said. “Despite him being short and young; he’s always asking for the ball. That’s what he brings to the team.”
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Martinez was acquired in halfway through the 2017 season and was brought on slow by the Dynamo. The team didn’t want to rush him onto the pitch. Once he got on the field, however, he proved his worth.
Martinez logged 501 minutes over nine games, including starting five of them, and scored two goals. But beyond that, he displayed some of the technique and skills that made the Dynamo want to sign him from Portugal’s Sporting Braga.
Having a full preseason under his belt Martinez is motivated to embark on his first full season in Major League Soccer and with La Naranja.
“We have a long season, and you have to put a lot of hard work to keep yourself motivated,” Martinez said. “You have to be concentrated, and most importantly for us is not about how we start, but how we finish the season.”