This Thursday, the first Eastern Conference finalist will be decided when the Chicago Fire travel to take on D.C. United in the return match of their conference semifinal series. The two teams will meet at RFK Stadium with the Fire holding a slim one-goal advantage after the first leg last Thursday.
Continuing their good form shown in the final stretch of the regular season, the Fire captured the first leg 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Chris Rolfe. Chicago extended their eight-game unbeaten run from the end of regular season in an intense match, overcoming the side from the nation's capital which had its starting lineup drastically altered through numerous injuries.
For the second leg -- or the second half of a 180-minute game, as many players prefer to look at the series -- the Fire intend to enter the match with the same level of focus with which they played the opening 90 minutes, and knock off D.C. United to advance.
"The team is very aware. Now we have to go in with the same concentration we've played with to here, create many opportunities at goal and take advantage of them," Cuauhtémoc Blanco said. "God willing we'll be able to get the victory and advance to the semifinals and later think about being in the [MLS Cup] Final."
In the opening match, United didn't allow the Fire to create the number of opportunities they had been producing in recent matches, and so the Fire had to depend on the creativity of Blanco and a great finish by their forwards to capture the result. With perfect timing, Chris Rolfe returned to the scene. His productivity had waned after an injury that cost him the first part of the season, but in recent games he has combined well with Blanco from a midfield spot and when the chances have come, he has been in the right place to finish them off.
Helping the cause of the strikers has been the solid play of the defense. According to defender Gonzalo Segares, he and his teammates intend on maintaining that advantage for their strikers.
"A team that is stopping things in the back is an advantage for the forwards," Segares said. "As much as the defense helps, the forwards have to worry only about scoring."
The Fire defense will need to take into account that D.C. United did not have the league's leading scorer, Luciano Emilio, in their lineup for the first leg, nor the MLS all-time leading scorer in Jaime Moreno. In the lineup from the opening whistle, along with Brazilian midfielder Fred and Argentinean playmaker Christian Gomez. they would be a veritable headache for the backline of the Men in Red.
While the statistics show the dominance of Chicago over D.C. United in the playoffs, Segares pointed out that the evenness of the first leg indicates those past results are simply part of history.
"They are only statistics -- it is in the past. It will be extremely difficult -- we can't rely on anything. We are not going to be given anything. We will take the field as if we are losing, closing down spaces and trying to get the result that will allow us to advance."
The first leg also brought some friction that showed the rivalry between the teams has been revived, which Segares said only benefits the league, as long as it's kept on the field.
"It's something special and something that stands out to a player. These are the types of games that show the league is growing and is becoming the league that we all want to see, and the playoffs are where games are played that become classics."
The teams last met in the playoffs in 2005, when after a scoreless draw in Chicago, the Fire went to D.C. and came away with a surprising 4-0 victory. In that game, the player mainly responsible for the victory was Iván Guerrero, who scored two goals and set up another. He is in doubt for the second leg Thursday with a knee injury.
As Segares certainly pointed out well, statistics are only numbers and form part of history. But another chapter in that history will be written Thursday, when the Fire's destiny will be known, if they can continue without loss against D.C. United in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Raquel Ortiz is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
