page_title: Houston Dynamo
section_title: 2012: A new stadium
hierarchical_section_title: Houston Dynamo / History / 2012: A new stadium
caption_attribution_description: English: Calen Carr lies injured as David Beckham look on during the 2012 MLS Cup
context_page_description: Houston Dynamo are an American professional soccer club based in Houston, Texas. The franchise competes in Major League Soccer, as a member of the Western Conference. It is affiliated with the NWSL team Houston Dash. The Dynamo had first played their home games at Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus until 2011. Since 2012, the Dynamo has played home matches at BBVA Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium located in Houston.
  The Dynamo was established on December 15, 2005, when the then owner of the San Jose Earthquakes, Anschutz Entertainment Group, announced that the team was relocating to Houston after failed attempts in securing a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, California. The club would then be an expansion team of the league, which began play in 2006. The Dynamo are owned by Gabriel Brener, Jake Silverstein, Ben Guill, NBA star James Harden, and former boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
  Houston Dynamo's domestic success consists of winning the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups in their first two seasons. They also won the U.S. Open Cup in 2018.
context_section_description: The Dynamo played their first seven MLS regular season matches on the road because BBVA Stadium, the new home of the Dynamo, was being constructed and eventually opened on May 12, 2012. The Dynamo began the 2012 season with a bang, winning their first two matches away at Chivas USA and the San Jose Earthquakes but they were only able to earn another two points from their next five matches, for a total of eight points.
  After completion of their new stadium, the Dynamo made a victorious home debut on May 12, 2012, vs. D.C. United thanks to a Brad Davis strike in front of a capacity crowd of 22,039 that would mark the beginning of what would be an unbeaten year for the Dynamo at home, posting a year-end home record of 11–0–6. The Dynamo's MLS regular season was marked by ups and downs and changes in formation from a 4–4–2 to 4–3–3 and back again by long-time manager Dominic Kinnear. Despite star center back Geoff Cameron's transfer to Stoke City midseason, The Dynamo went unbeaten with a record of 5–0–2 from July 3 to August 3, marked by superb play from captain Brad Davis, Calen Carr, newcomer Macoumba Kandji, new designated player Oscar Boniek García, and the emergence of Will Bruin as a prominent goalscorer, who subsequently went on to lead the Dynamo in scoring with 12 regular season goals. However, some late season lapses caused the Dynamo to drop from second to fifth in the Eastern Conference and only make the playoffs as the wild card.
  In the playoffs, the Dynamo traveled to Chicago to face the Chicago Fire in the MLS Wild Card Match.  Buoyed by two goals by Will Bruin, the Dynamo held on to a 2–1 victory in Chicago. The Dynamo then faced the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, which was played over two legs.  Behind goals from Adam Moffat and Will Bruin, Houston extended their unbeaten streak at home to 29 games in all competitions, handing Kansas City a 2–0 loss in the first leg in front of 20,689 fans at BBVA Stadium.  In front of a crowd of 20,894, Kansas City defeated the Dynamo 1–0, but the Dynamo survived 2–1 on aggregate.
  The Dynamo advanced to face D.C. United in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the first leg being played in Houston. Houston won the first leg 3–1, behind goals from Andre Hainault, Will Bruin, and Kofi Sarkodie in front of 22,101. In the second leg, a 33rd-minute goal from Oscar Boniek García gave the Dynamo a 1–1 draw, and the Dynamo held on for a 4–2 aggregate win and advanced to their second straight MLS Cup to face the Los Angeles Galaxy.
  MLS Cup 2012 was hosted by L.A. in a rematch of the 2011 MLS Cup, this time in front of a sellout crowd of 30,510. After getting a goal from Calen Carr in the 44th minute, the Dynamo held a 1–0 halftime lead. However, the 2nd half turned the game on its head, beginning with Carr's ACL tear suffered in the 59th minute. One minute after this injury, the Galaxy equalized through Omar Gonzalez's header. Five minutes later, Landon Donovan sealed the Dynamo's fate just as he had the year before with a penalty after Ricardo Clark handled the ball in the area. Robbie Keane added a third goal for L.A. in stoppage time, and L.A. were crowned MLS Champions for 2012.
  The Houston Dynamo managed significant achievements during 2012.  During the 2012 season, they were undefeated at home, part of what would eventually become a 36-match unbeaten streak in all competitions that stretched across two stadiums and parts of three seasons. Will Bruin emerged in his 2nd year with the team as their leading goal-scorer.  Newly acquired Designated Player Oscar Boniek García had a productive half-season, and by season's end had won MLS Latin Player of the Year honors.  Their MLS Cup appearance in 2012 marked the Dynamo's fourth MLS Cup appearance in their seven-year existence in the league. The Dynamo topped their group in the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League, where they moved on to face Santos Laguna in the round of 16 of the competition to be played March 5, 2013.  By finishing as runners-up in MLS Cup, they were awa
caption: Calen Carr lies injured as David Beckham looks on during the 2012 MLS Cup
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot S100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture 3.4.5", "Image DateTime": "2012:12:01 16:14:06", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[33, 51, 1049/20]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[118, 15, 3829/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "107/4", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[23, 13, 58]", "GPS GPSStatus": "A", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSDate": "2012:12:01", "Image GPSInfo": "752", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "59/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "320", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:12:01 16:14:06", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:12:01 16:14:06", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "223/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "41/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "41/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "26", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1472", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "981", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "485177/29", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "217246/13", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "125/102", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}