Omar Cummings ready to deliver for Houston Dynamo
Nov 6, 2013; Harrison, NJ, USA; Houston Dynamo forward Omar Cummings (7) looks on after defeating the New York Red Bulls in Leg 2 of the eastern conference semi-finals at Red Bull Arena. Houston Dynamo won the game 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Omar Cummings was a late bloomer for the Houston Dynamo, scoring twice against the New York Red Bulls in the 2013 MLS Eastern Conference semifinals. Now fit and healthy, Cummings is ready to arrive for the Men in Orange in 2014.
“It’s almost like a new signing because of what happened last year,” Dynamo manager Dominic Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com’s Darrell Lovell. “You want competition at all spots. It makes everyone better. … He’s scored some good goals and obviously you want him pushing and scoring goals in the preseason because that makes it better for competition.
“He does like to sneak in behind the defense; you just have to encourage it. For the most part, we know that’s what we want Omar to do, which is make those runs forward because space may be open behind and that’s what he’s here to do.”
“It was definitely tough physically and mentally,” Cummings said of the long road back. “You get to a point where you’re like, ‘Don’t dwell on it too much, don’t think about it too much and just try and come back.’ This year, I’m finally fit and not in a stretch where I’m not in the training room the majority of the time.”
“I’ve known Omar for a while now and you can tell his movements are better and he feels stronger and he’s not lingering on an injury,” added right back Kofi Sarkodie. “An Omar Cummings in good form, that’s as dangerous as it’s going to get. If we can have that from him… I think it’s going to help and make a huge difference for us.”
Tony Cascio is on loan to the Houston Dynamo from the Colorado Rapids. This is the first intra-league loan in MLS history.
“I was sitting out last year and it gave me a little fire to go out and show people I can play and try and prove myself and show people I can play at this level,” Cascio told Lovell. “Coming into preseason I thought I was going to start but never could find a rhythm. I was in and out the first 10 games and we just had depth to the team,”
“For me I was just too inconsistent. As a professional you’ve just got to be consistent.”
“He might be a surprise to some people that don’t really know him too well, but following him in college and what I saw in Colorado I thought he would fit in,” Kinnear said. “I think he gets it. When he takes that first step forward and takes people on, that’s the reason we tried to acquire him.”
Midfielder Warren Creavalle is recovering from injury, as are Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor and Andrew Driver.
“He’s questionable right now,” Kinnear said of Creavalle. “He started on the field [Wednesday] and two days ago started jogging, so we’re doing more with him which is encouraging. Hopefully we’ll see him on the field soon.”