After the Wales game our build up has been intense with a game against the current MLS champions Houston Dynamo.

What also has not helped is the fact that we've had a lot of players missing through international duty.

Where as in England league games are called off when players go away, well over here the games carry on, so you can say that your team gets punished for having international players, which surely can't be fair.

We travelled to Houston missing a few players and the manager keeping faith with the team that had won against LA the previous week.

But we knew it was going to be tough as the humidity was a big factor and they are a very good team too.

The game started at a quick pace with Houston attacking from the first whistle, but we managed to keep them at bay with some excellent blocks and some good goalkeeping too.

In the 36th minute we created a great chance as our full-back crossed the ball to Jeff Cunningham, who headed over from six yards.

This was a big chance for us, as we knew that we might not get too many. We were finding it difficult to adapt to the humidity and get a foothold in the game as half time was approaching.

Then probably with the run of play Houston scored with a minute to go before half time, which was a killer blow for us.

When in the changing room, the manager read the riot act, and deservedly so as we had not performed for some reason. Two changes were made immediately as we attempted to get back into the game.
Within 20 minutes of the second half we were three goals behind and facing an uphill task.

Houston were showing that they were a top team, but we never gave up and scored a good goal but the game ended 3-1. A few words were said at the end of the game, as we tried to find out what went wrong.

When you suffer a defeat you try and ask why? What went wrong? And what you can do to make it not happen again?

These were the things that were addressed.

But what came out of the meeting was that we must stay positive as we have had an excellent start, and make sure we stay confident going into the Colorado Rapids match this weekend.

It's good to talk at the end of games because football is about opinions and sometimes views do need to be shared. I thought that we
were outplayed and beaten by the better team on the day.

This team having won the MLS last year showed us the level we need to achieve.

This week has been pretty positive in training with the build up to the Rapids game approaching.

The thing with footballers is that after a defeat you get a chance to do something about it as games come thick and fast.

It's been great to see the Euros starting this week. All players watch these games and fans come out in force to support their team.

Here in Toronto their is a diverse community and every team is well supported with flags coming out of cars and hats and scarves everywhere.

After watching the first lot of games I originally predicted that Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and Germany would reach the last four.
Netherlands looked strong, Portugal great attacking wise, Spain as always started well, and Germany will always get too the last four.

What will be interesting is the surprise team, as each tournament there is one, but I'm not sure who this will be.

With the Euros going on, all managers will be watching these games, so you might not see much player movement, but wait for three weeks and then you'll see transfers coming from everywhere.

Saying that its been a long week is maybe unfair, as the wife and I have managed to go and watch Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo playing at the ACC Centre, and also to take the kids to a show called Walking with Dinosaurs.

There are so many things to do over here in Canada as
everything is geared towards families, which of course is great for us.