BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Quincy Amarikwa insists he and his Chicago Fire teammates “wouldn’t be professionals” if they were to give up on the season after just eight games.
The Fire head into Saturday’s difficult road tie at the New York Red Bulls (7 pm ET, MLS Live) still without a win and reeling from giving up a 2-0 lead before going down 3-2 to Real Salt Lake last time out to bring their record for the season to 0-6-2.
“It’s real early in the season and there’s a lot of games,” Amarikwa, the Fire’s top scorer with four goals, said after practice at Toyota Park on Thursday. “We wouldn't be professionals if we were to call the season quits already. If you really look at it, we have just two losses all year. Yeah, we have no wins but compared to other teams, I’m not sure too many can say the same.
“The wins will come, it’s just a matter of time and we’re looking forward to making that time this Saturday.”
Amarikwa, suspended for the RSL game following his dismissal against the New England Revolution, watched from the stands as Frank Yallop’s side let a commanding lead slip in such dramatic and heartbreaking fashion with just 20 minutes to go.
“It’s difficult, but that’s how the game can go sometimes,” he said of the defeat. “I won’t be complaining when it’s the reverse. It’s unlucky, it’s unfortunate but at the end of the day all we can do is move forward and learn from it. It’s a tough lesson to learn but sometimes you need that to light a fire under you.”
The striker hopes that fire will result in a first win of the season at the Red Bull Arena, where the home team are unbeaten in four games with two wins and two ties.
Ecuadorian DP Juan Luis Anangono scored the Fire’s second goal, and his second of the season, as he filled the void impressively alongside Mike Magee in Amarikwa’s absence.
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“I feel Juan did well, the first half of the game I think he did well to create chances and get into the box and cause havoc,” Amarikwa admitted. “I think as a team, as a whole, in the second half we just let the game get away from us. We were in an unfamiliar situation, I think we were just trying to get out of here with the points and we backed it in a little bit too early and that ended up being our downfall.”
However, the California native is anxious to get back on the field after a three-week absence because of the Fire’s bye after the Revs game.
He insisted: “I’m looking forward to getting back into playing. I feel like my fitness levels have been good all year, I did a lot of work with Tony [Jouaux, Strength and Conditioning Coach] over this past week and a half, to get some additional work in and fitness in outside of training all last week. Recovery has been going well so I’m just eager to get back out there this Saturday.”
