Midway through the Major League Soccer season, many Chicago fans might have thought when the Fire played Los Angeles in late October it would be a great opportunity to see international soccer star David Beckham at Toyota Park in a game that would more than likely wrap up a disappointing 2007 campaign.
However, with the addition of their own international star in Cuauhtémoc Blanco, the Fire and the Galaxy came together in a battle for the final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Since Blanco's arrival, the Fire turned around a season going the other direction. While they made it interesting over the final few weeks, they got the result they needed Sunday in front of a record crowd of 21,374 at Toyota Park and ended the Galaxy's season in the process.
The Fire will play host to D.C. United on Thursday night in Bridgeview for the first round of the second season.
"I am 46 years old and after that game I feel like I'm 56 now," Chicago coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "I just congratulated everybody in the locker room and that's over. It is history and now we're in the playoffs."
Osorio said it is no time for Chicago to celebrate advancing into the postseason.
"[Monday] we were supposed to have a day off, but I've changed my mind," Osorio said. "We will be training at 9 o'clock [a.m.] and I will start preparing my team for Thursday night. I'm going to watch the video of the last game with D.C. and find out a few things about them."
After a career spent mostly in Europe and a handful of appearances with the U.S. national team, John Thorrington saw injuries limit him to just 10 appearances over the past two seasons with the Fire. Re-signed earlier this year, Thorrington proved to be the hero when he came off the bench to score the game's lone goal.
After he received a leading pass from Fire forward Calen Carr, Thorrington found himself with a breakaway opportunity and came face-to-face with Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon. Thorrington forced Cannon to come toward him in the penalty area and the midfielder chipped his shot gently over a leaping Cannon.
"I was just happy to get back into [the game] for the past month. It was Chris Armas' last day and I really wanted him to go out on a high and I think we are on our way to doing that," Thorrington said. "I was here for two years and injuries stopped me from making the contributions that I wanted to. I just thank God that I got the opportunity to repay the faith that the organization has shown in me in bringing me back."
Chicago outshot Los Angeles 22-5 and for 92 minutes of the contest, Cannon recorded nine saves and frustrated Chicago attackers.
"The way the game was going we got some chances toward the end and I just wanted to take advantage of one of them there," Thorrington said. "Joe Cannon made quite a few saves. The ball just sat up nicely for me and thankfully it went in. It took a while to cross his hand and cross the line. It was just a big relief to get into the playoffs."
Said Cannon: "It was a bouncing ball and John did well. As a goalie, you're caught because he has so much time and he can do what he wants with it. He can lift it, he can wait for it to come down and volley it, but give them credit. They came at us from the second minute to the 90th."
After being shut out in their last game, a scoreless draw with D.C. United in Washington, it looked like a second blanking until Thorrington came through.
"I think it was an improvement because in today's game there were shots that were wide, as opposed to the last game where everything we hit against D.C. United was in or around the goalkeeper," said Osorio. "We made [D.C. goalkeeper Troy Perkins] the hero that night without really stretching him. Tonight I think we made a lot of emphasis during the week that we have to move for the far post and we did today."
On the defensive side, Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens recorded his 10th regular-season shutout, his second in a row. He broke the club record of nine shutouts that was held by former Chicago netminder Zach Thornton during the 2001 campaign.
In three games this season against D.C. United, the Fire have scored just two goals. They have not scored more than two goals in a game since a 3-0 win against Toronto FC on July 29, Osorio's second game in charge. But now they are at the time of the season where just one goal could be the difference.
"It happened to us in a number of games, particularly against Chivas where it was one goal that marked the difference," Osorio said. "I think yes, we could've scored three more goals, but we came away with the three points."
Tim Hilton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
