What has become one of the more heated rivalries in Major League Soccer resumes again to kick off the 2007 season, as the New England Revolution make a return visit to Toyota Park to face the Chicago Fire. The two teams inaugurated the new Bridgeview stadium with a wild game, three goals in stoppage time in a 3-3 draw. Then, the teams met in the MLS Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive year (and fifth time ever), the Revolution again getting the upper hand with a victory on penalty kicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. However, the Fire have eliminated the Revolution from the U.S. Open Cup each of the last two years, in '06 in the quarterfinals on their way to winning the Dewar Trophy for a fourth time.
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Craig Lowry; 4th: Jorge Gonzalez
MLS Career: 32 games; FC/gm: 28.1; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 8; pens: 8
Games involving Fire: P7 W3 L2 T2; FC/gm: 32.9; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 1; pens: 4
Games involving Revolution: P6 W1 L0 T5; FC/gm: 31.5; Y/gm: 4.3; R: 2; pens: 1
INJURY REPORT: CHICAGO FIRE - DOUBTFUL: MF Pascal Bedrossian (R hamstring strain) ... NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: MF Daniel Hernandez (groin strain), DF Michael Parkhurst (L dislocated shoulder); QUESTIONABLE: FW Pat Noonan (sports hernia surgery), MF Shalrie Joseph (R calf strain); PROBABLE: MF Khano Smith (R hamstring strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (28 meetings): Fire 10 wins, 37 goals ... Revolution 12 wins, 44 goals ... Draws 6
IN CHICAGO: (14 meetings): Fire 5 wins, 21 goals ... Revolution 4 wins, 20 goals ... Draws 5
This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season, the first of two at Gillette Stadium. They next meet May 6 at Toyota Park, then conclude the season series in Foxborough on Oct. 6.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/30: NE 1, CHI 2 (Twellman 54 - Thiago 64; Rolfe 68)
6/11: CHI 3, NE 3 (Jaqua 39, 79; Carr 91+ - Twellman 87; Ralston 93+; Dorman 94+)
7/8: CHI 1, NE 2 (Jaqua 51 - Ralston 23; Dorman 37)
8/20: NE 0, CHI 1 (Herron 24)
The Fire won the season series between the teams last year, the first time since 2002 they had claimed the set.
The Fire won both meetings in Foxborough last season, snapping a six-game winning streak by the Revolution against the Fire at Gillette Stadium. That streak also answered a season sweep in the Bay State by Chicago, when they won both meetings at The Big Razor in 2002.
The two teams also of course met last season in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Fire claiming a 1-0 victory at Toyota Park in the first leg (Mapp 35), with the Revolution finally defeating Chicago at home, 2-1 in the second leg (Twellman 41, Noonan 58 - Jaqua 18), then advancing to the next stage on penalty kicks.
The teams also met in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, the Fire dumping the Revolution out of the competition for the second year running, with a 2-1 victory at Toyota Park on Aug. 23 (Herron 12, 58 pen - Twellman 27).
Coaches record: Dave Sarachan v NE: P16 W5 L8 D3 ... Steve Nicol vs. CHI: P18 W9 L6 D3
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire begin their first full season in their new Toyota Park home trying to get back to the MLS Cup Final where they last were in 2003. The last two seasons have come to an end at the hands of the New England Revolution, in the Eastern Conference Championship in 2005, the conference semifinals last year, though the Fire last year did win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for a record fourth time.
The Fire completed their preseason with a 1-0 loss to Chivas USA on March 31 in Ridgeland, Miss. The game's only goal of the game came in the 29th minute, as Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan received a pass 25 yards from goal and dropped a no-look back pass to Ante Razov, whose left-footed strike from 30 yards out beat Matt Pickens just inside the right post.
Here's Dave Sarachan's team: Matt Pickens - Gonzalo Segares, Diego Gutierrez, C.J. Brown (Calen Carr 80) - Ivan Guerrero, Thiago (Floyd Franks 81), Chris Armas, Justin Mapp (Bakary Soumare 87), Logan Pause (William Oliveira 72) - Chris Rolfe, Chad Barrett.
It was the Fire's eighth preseason match against an MLS side, and they posted a 2-5-1 record in those games. The last victory against MLS opposition came on March 3, a 2-1 win against Chivas USA.
The match in Mississippi was a homecoming for Justin Mapp, who played in the match after seeing time in the U.S. national team's midweek scoreless draw with Guatemala. Sarachan said he expects Mapp to be a key performer for his side this season.
"Justin's coming off a year where he was recognized by the league as one of the Best XI," Sarachan said. "He's now had a good opportunity with our national team. Now that he is in his sixth year we are hoping that he will shoulder a lot of the attacking for us and be a more complete player. We always knew he had talent and now it's just a matter of getting all the pieces right."
The Fire then made major headlines when they signed Mexican international Cuauhtémoc Blanco as the club's designated player. Blanco, who has scored 31 goals in 86 full national team appearances (fourth all-time on Mexico's goalscoring list), will join the Fire in July after his contract expires with Club America. Blanco is also expected to be called into the Mexican national team for either the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America this summer - or both.
"He is an attacking player who can really create chances and plays in a real unique way,'' Sarachan said. "In my mind, he's a guy that plays in a lot of different spots in the attacking third and needs to have the freedom that we gave Justin (Mapp) last year to find little holes to be as close to the goal as possible."
Blanco has scored 142 goals in 356 Primera Division appearances, almost all with America since making his professional debut in 1990. He also had brief stints with Necaxa and Veracruz - and Real Valladolid in Spain, where he scored three goals in 23 matches from 2000-02.
The core of the Fire remains intact from a season ago. The biggest losses were strikers Nate Jaqua and Andy Herron, while Fire original Zach Thornton was sent to Colorado, but after goalkeeper Matt Pickens made the starting job his own.
"I think stability is a good word when you talk about Major League Soccer or any professional organization," Sarachan said to The Sports Network. "Whether it's the NFL or NBA or whatever, there is a lot of turnover and that can be disruptive and take a lot of time. I think in our case we have continued to keep a good core of our nucleus from prior years and this year is no exception. I think our core is a good core and our young talent is up and coming."
Quietly, in the midst of the midweek ceremonies announcing the signing of Blanco, Fire captain Chris Armas said 2007 will be his final season. "This is going to be my last year," said Armas. "Barring something, this will probably be it for me."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution were delivered the cruelest of blows last November - after taking the lead in extra time of the MLS Cup Final against Houston Dynamo, they saw an equalizer scored right away, then were left still chasing a first trophy in club history after falling in the penalty kick shootout. It was the third trip to the final game in five seasons for the Revolution.
The Revolution concluded their preseason with a 4-0 victory against the New Orleans Shell Shockers of the USL Second Division (third tier) on March 28 at the LSU Soccer Complex in Baton Rouge, La.
Adam Cristman knocked home a rebound to put the Revs into the lead after just two minutes, then Khano Smith and Arsene Oka scored two minutes apart just before the hour to give the Revolution a 3-0 lead. The Shell Shockers were left a man down for the final 17 minutes after a red card, and Oka scored his second of the game five minutes from the end to provide the final scoreline.
Here's Steve Nicol's team: Matt Reis - Avery John (Marshall Leonard 64), James Riley, Jay Heaps - Khano Smith (Bryan Byrne 62),, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph (Wells Thompson 37), Steve Ralston, Andy Dorman (Miguel Gonzalez 72) - Willie Sims (Arsene Oka 46), Adam Cristman (Chris Loftus 68)
With the victory, the Revolution completed their six-game preseason schedule with a 6-0-0 record and outscored their opponents by a combined 20-3.
Cristman's goal in the second minute extended his goal-scoring streak to four games for the Revolution, with five goals in that time for the MLS club. Cristman's goal-scoring exploits have likely put him in the starting lineup for the season opener, especially with Pat Noonan sidelined after undergoing sports hernia surgery.
"He just wants to score. He's a wee bit like Taylor (Twellman). The guy just wants to score," Nicol said. "When it comes down to a wee bit extra between him and the defender, so far, he's been pulling the extra bit out. It's really all about desire. He has a good football brain. He puts himself in good positions where they get it to him to score."
Noonan could be available for the opener in Bridgeview, but Nicol said it's more likely Cristman will get the nod. [Noonan] won't be injured at the start of the season but he won't be 100 percent," Nicol said to The Sports Network. "He will be sitting and watching Cristman hopefully doing well. That will get him up quickly and get him in good form."
In addition, Michael Parkhurst will be unavailable for the season opener for the second consecutive season, this time after injuring a shoulder in a freak accident in the surf on a Mexican beach. Parkhurst missed the first two matches of the 2006 season after winning Rookie of the Year honors the season before, then played every minute of the final 30 regular season matches. He is expected to miss the first few weeks this year, too.
James Riley is expected to fill Parkhurst's spot in the middle of the back three. "I have always wanted to step in and play whatever role I can to help the team and, right now, it is the center back position, which is a difficult one that Parky plays unbelievably well," Riley said. "It is a matter of adjusting. Stevie gives me lots of information every day so I just have to be a sponge and absorb it all."
During the 2006 season, Riley gained the majority of his playing on the left side of the back three, after figuring as a wide midfielder much of his rookie season.
"You just have to read the game a bit more (in the middle),"said Riley. "You don't really dive in or body up as much as you do on the outside. You try to help and assist the guys and prevent different scenarios from happening. If you can communicate and not be involved a lot and let everyone else clean up then you are doing your job."
Said Nicol: "I think if you look at the changes we've had to make, especially in the last 10 days, you have to be happy with the way we've gone about things. We're trying to play the same way with whoever the personnel is. Everybody seems to be in tune with what we're looking to do. As I always say, you don't get any points for preseason games, so it's great to win. It's always a great habit to get into, but it's really all about the season."
