Toyota Park will welcome two of Chicago soccer's favorite men Saturday as Peter Nowak and Peter Wilt headline an emotional night when D.C. United come to take on the Chicago Fire.
Nowak was the Fire's captain during their trophy-winning seasons and his gusto and guile made him a favorite son. Wilt pulled the strings as the Fire's first general manager, having been the longest tenured GM with the same MLS team prior to his departure in December 2005.
Nowak will be on the sidelines coaching table-topping United and Wilt will be inducted into the "Ring of Fire" during a prematch ceremony.
"Peter Wilt built the organization," said C.J. Brown, one of only four remaining Fire players from their title-winning inaugural season. "He's the guy who brought the tradition, the drive, the excellence and the fan base. I think the Chicago Fire have a lot of their fans because of the work Peter Wilt has done.
"He worked hard, he was in the business community, he was in the stands, and above all, he was a fan of the game."
While Fire veterans like Brown will enjoy honoring the man that brought them to the club, they will also relish lining up against their former skipper once the whistle blows.
"It's good to win against your friend," said Brown who played with Nowak for five seasons in Chicago. "Peter is a good guy and he's given his team a good mentality and obviously from their record he's put them on the right track. While it's good to beat your buddy, we go into this thinking we need to beat D.C. United, not Peter Nowak."
While prematch festivities will focus on Wilt, the Fire will focus on many men. The United attack is led by Jaime Moreno with Christian Gomez and Freddy Adu lately playing key roles -- but the Fire aren't looking in just their direction.
"If you concentrate on one player than the others will hurt you. We learned that with Clyde Simms last time we played D.C.," said Brown, referring to the Fire's 1-0 loss to United in June, when the second-year United defensive midfielder scored his first professional goal. "With their type of system, if one guy steps off the field the guy taking his place already knows what to do."
Having lost two matches in a row, Brown said he knows what the Fire need to do.
"Our first half needs to be better. We need to put pressure on the ball, and we have to have more movement off the ball. Each individual guy needs to concentrate more than we've been concentrating lately," he said.
Fire front man Nate Jaqua, who was the only Chicago player named to the MLS All-Star team earlier in the week, shared Brown's sentiments.
"We need to pressure the ball, and we need to finish our chances," said Jaqua. "D.C. has been playing well lately, and it's not an easy game for us.
"We need to try to break their record," said Jaqua, referring to United's current 13-match unbeaten streak.
Ivaldo Basso is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
