Willian Oliveira gave Chicago both its best play and the biggest scare of the night in a 1-0 victory in a friendly against MKS Cracovia Friday in Bridgeview.
Oliveira scored the lone goal of the contest for Chicago as he drilled one that found the upper left post in the 36th minute but he then limped off the field in the 73rd after colliding with a Stripes player.
History was made on both sides when MKS Cracovia and the Chicago Fire faced each other in the Fire's first friendly of the 2007 season.
Cracovia played its first official match against an MLS team since the league's formation in 1996 while the Fire played their first contest under interim head coach Denis Hamlett.
The Stripes last played in the United States when they faced the now-defunct Jersey Falcons Soccer Club in 2004. Hamlett took the helm for Chicago after Dave Sarachan was relieved of his head coaching responsibilities on Wednesday.
Cracovia registered the first shot of the game in the eighth minute as team captain Piotr Bania drilled one that was immediately saved by Fire 'keeper Jon Busch, who got the starting nod in goal in place of regular Matt Pickens.
Chicago let an opportunity slip away in the 14th minute when the Fire were granted a free kick. Chad Barrett kicked it into a wall of Stripes and then chased after his own rebound. Barrett dished the ball to Calen Carr for an easy look against Cracovia goalkeeper Marcin Cabaj. Carr took a quick shot but it was immediately blocked by Cabaj ending a possible tally for Chicago.
Although it was just a friendly, the intensity was palpable as the Fire were issued two yellow card cautions in a span of 12 minutes.
Carr was awarded one in the 17th minute for a reckless foul while in the 29th minute Desan Robinson was issued a yellow card for tacking from behind.
In the 35th minute, Chicago started to wear down the Stripes defense. The Fire earned a direct free kick when Cracovia defender Thomasz Wacek was issued a yellow card for a deliberate handball. With Diego Gutierrez hovering over the ball just outside the penalty box, the Chicago captain pushed the free ball a yard to his left to set up Oliveira.
Oliveira did not disappoint as he kicked the ball with his lethal left foot and recorded a winner, masterfully placing it in the upper left corner beating a stretched out Cabaj to give the Fire a 1-0 lead.
Chicago kept up the offensive intensity in the second half as it recorded another shot in the 47th minute. Oliveira attempted a difficult shot from 20 yards away but his try banged the bottom of the right post of the Cracovia goal. Although he was trying to get his teammates involved, Oliveira may have been generous to a fault in the 51st minute.
With a 2-on-1 breakaway, Oliveira controlled the ball and tried to score on new Cracovia goalie Slawomir Olszewski. Oliveira brought Olszewski out toward him and forced the Stripes goalie to commit. Instead of attempting a shot, the Brazilian midfielder dropped a pass to a trailing Bakary Soumare. Olszewski anticipated the pass and broke up the scoring chance for the Fire.
Hamlett started to rotate his defenders when he called upon Jeff Curtin to replace Robinson in the 64th minute. After Gutierrez broke up a Cracovia 3-on-2 advantage, the defender was able to get the ball to Carr on the near the right sideline. Carr sprinted and, with a Stripes defender on his back, he was able to get near the Cracovia goal, but Olszewski broke up Carr's penetration and forced his second shot of the game out of bounds.
In the 68th minute, Bania got on the end of a deflected corner kick and sent an unimpeded attempt toward the Fire goal. Busch jumped straight up and was able to just get enough of his hand on it to send the ball over the crossbar and out of play.
Unfortunately for the Fire, the injury bug may have bit them again as Oliveira was taken out of the 73rd minute and limped back to the Chicago bench after getting tied up with a Cracovia player.
Barrett tried to pick up the slack for his departed teammate but his shot in the 73rd minute was stopped as Olszewski dove to his right and saved the possible score. Cracovia would not leave this friendly without trying to tie it up.
In the 85th minute, the Stripes tried to head the ball in three different times inside the penalty box but they came up short as Mike Banner was able to clear it out for the Fire.
Cracovia had two corner kick opportunities in the waning minutes once again they were unable to record a tally.
Timothy Hilton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
