Motivation will be no problem, but it remains to be seen if the Kansas City Wizards have enough in the tank to win their fourth-round U.S. Open Cup game Wednesday against the Chicago Fire.
The Wizards will play at Chicago's new Toyota Park with one victory under their belts in the tourney, a 2-1 victory in the third round against the Des Moines Menace of the fourth-tier USL Premier Development League three weeks ago.
On Saturday at home against the New England Revolution, after an energetic first half the Wizards were sluggish in the final 30 minutes and gave up a goal late in second-half stoppage time before finishing in a 1-1 draw.
The squad that Wizards interim coach Brian Bliss takes to Chicago will no doubt have players who have not seen much action in MLS games, but might not include some players who played Saturday.
With no game until next Wednesday, Bliss will choose to rest some players. He said forward Josh Wolff asked to be taken out midway through the second half at thew weekend because of the accumulation of bumps and knocks acquired with the Wizards and the U.S. national team. As a result, Wolff, along with Sasha Victorine, are being rested for the Open Cup match.
"It's a little tough to recover from game to game but we have guys that are more than capable of stepping in at any time and not missing a beat," Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin said. "We're going to have to utilize those guys. We're going to have utilize some guys we used (Saturday) and hopefully that will carry the day."
Bliss said he might tax some players by playing them against Chicago since there is no game until next Wednesday. The entire squad is scheduled to be off through Saturday's MLS All-Star Game against Chelsea, except for defender Jimmy Conrad, who was selected to play.
"I think we're going to get some fresh legs in there," Bliss said. "But I think we're going to put a team out there that gives us the best opportunity to win as well."
The Wizards, who won the Open Cup in 2004, appear to be looking forward to the opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals on Aug. 23 even though playing twice a week has become a habit since late June.
A victory against Chicago will pit the Wizards against either New England or USL Division 1 team Rochester Rhinos in the quarterfinals. Either way the Wizards will be away from home.
Wizards goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi is looking forward not only to the game, but the time off to re-energize so the club can make a push in the final 10 MLS games to improve their position in the standings.
"It's a league opponent and even though it's not for the league it's for something we want to win," Oshoniyi said.
The Wizards have defeated Chicago once at home, drawn with the Fire at home and lost once at Toyota Park on July 4, the most recent meeting. Andy Herron scored on a bicycle kick early in the second half for the game's only goal in the meeting.
"They are a quality team," Bliss said. "We battled them pretty well at their new stadium, but once again we were the victim of goal of the week when Herron put that bicycle in. It's going to be a tough task, there is no doubt."
Playing for the Cup gives the Wizards a little more motivation.
"Having won one a couple of years ago, we took great satisfaction in winning the Open Cup," Zavagnin said. "Although it's not as highly praised as the MLS Cup, it's a cup nonetheless. It's something we're looking forward to playing. It's something we're happy to still be a part of and we're going to put our best effort into Chicago on Wednesday."
The have failed to win any of their last eight MLS games, but made a bit of progress Saturday with the draw against New England to break a seven-game losing streak. The draw, though, was like giving a thirsty person a drop of water, especially because Kansas City gave up the stoppage time tying goal.
Bliss does not separate the Open Cup game from the season as a whole.
"In the Open Cup, if we can beat an MLS team on the road that's a confidence booster," Bliss said. Whether it's the Open Cup or regular season, if we can get the result on Wednesday I think it's going to pay dividends the next Wednesday when we go to New England."
Robert Whitman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
