CHICAGO FIRE vs CHIVAS USA
Group Stage - GROUP A - Match 5
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 7 p.m. CT
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
REFEREE: Mark Geiger (USA)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Greg Barkey (USA); James Conlee (USA)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Michael Kennedy (USA)
The Chicago Fire will look to become the first team to book their ticket for the SuperLiga 2009 semifinals with a victory against MLS rival Chivas USA on Tuesday at Toyota Park. The teams met less than a month ago in an epic encounter won 3-2 by the Fire with two dramatic late goals.
Chicago Fire
Against San Luis in their SuperLiga opener, the Chicago Fire allowed eight shots on goal (11 total attempts), yet still came away with a shutout to begin the competition. The Fire had lost their last three league games before SuperLiga, and the shutout was their first in six games. "I thought the most important thing was that we didn't concede a goal. Our guys stepped up and made big plays - [Jon] Busch made two great saves, and Gonzalo [Segares] and C.J. [Brown] were running back really hard to make sure San Luis didn't score any goals," said Fire head coach Denis Hamlett. To open the competition, Hamlett ran out his best available lineup, but had indicated before the event he would use his entire squad. "We've got a deep team and I think this is the time we'll have to start using it," said Brian McBride. "I'm sure Denis (Hamlett) has a great idea of what he wants to do, and we'll come out ready again on Tuesday." While Brian McBride certainly had reason to celebrate the goal, Hamlett said a large portion belonged to Cuauhtémoc Blanco. "It was a great finish - we have to credit Cuauhtémoc Blanco though. Sometimes he stays back, but he chased the guy down and made a play out of that," Hamlett said. "Brian made a nice finish with his left foot, which was a birthday present for him because it was his birthday yesterday."
Chivas USA
Faced against a very young Tigres side, Chivas USA head coach Preki wasn't pleased with his team's start in their SuperLiga opener. He brought on Jorge Flores and Michael Lahoud (who had a combined 24 career MLS appearances) at halftime and they provided a boost; Lahoud scoring his first professional goal for the equalizer. "You want to win every time you step on the field, and in the meantime you've got to give an opportunity to some of the younger guys. Some of our younger guys in the second half came in, [Michael] Lahoud and Jorge Flores, and they gave us some energy, so we are looking forward to getting some more of that," Preki said. "We are going to try and win the next game, that's all we're thinking right now." A key moment came when Eduardo Lillingston was sent off in the 67th minute. Lillingston will miss the game in Chicago through suspension. "[N]os sorprendió un equipo de chavos, creyendo que iba a ser muy fácil y no es así, sabemos que en el futbol mexicano se preparan más físicamente y tu los ves, los chavitos corren y corren y no dejan de corer", dijo Lillingston. "Nosotros debimos ser más inteligentes y nos cae como un balde de agua y sigue la racha de partidos que no sacamos adelante". For Chivas, it was a third consecutive loss and fourth in their last five games in all competitions. "We've got to figure out right now how to turn this thing around, and as a group, stick together and figure out how to start getting wins. When we were winning, we were winning as a team, and now when we're losing, we're losing as a team, so we've got to figure something out and start turning things around," said Jesse Marsch.
State of play
With victories against rivals from their own league, the Chicago Fire and Tigres UANL can all but secure passage to the SuperLiga semifinals on Tuesday, when they take on Chivas USA and Real San Luis respectively. If both teams win a second game, the Group A semifinalists will be set.
Previous encounters
The teams faced each other May 28 in a remarkable game won 3-2 by the Fire at The Home Depot Center. Paulo Nagamura put Chivas ahead in the 16th minutes, but Cuauhtémoc Blanco converted a penalty nine minutes later to level terms. Chivas went back in front 12 minutes later when Maykel Galindo converted a penalty, but the home side were left a man down when Jesse Marsch was sent off in the 63rd minute. Patrick Nyarko finally pulled the Fire level again in the 89th minute, then after a foul deep into stoppage time, Blanco converted a second from the spot for the winner. Each team has won four of the nine all-time meetings, with one draw.
