CHICAGO FIRE vs TIGRES UANL
Group Stage - GROUP A - Match 9
Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 7 p.m. CT
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
REFEREE: Kevin Thomas (JAM)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Rohan Thobourne (JAM); Garnet Page (JAM)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Donald Dellavia (USA)
The Chicago Fire will look to become the first team from Group A to book passage to the semifinal round, which they will accomplish with a win or draw against Tigres UANL. A loss will eliminate Tigres from the tournament, but with a win, they can also put the Fire's hopes in question.
Chicago Fire
With the opportunity to secure advancement to the semifinals, Chicago Fire coach Denis Hamlett started four players who had yet to start in league play this season. Still, the Fire came away with a 1-0 victory against MLS rival Chivas USA to leave them in the driver's seat heading into the final day of group play. "There are a lot of younger guys on this team, and sometimes they get pretty impatient to play,'' Hamlett said. ''Tonight they came into a very big game ... and played to their strengths.'' Defenders Austin Washington and Mike Banner, midfielder Baggio Husidic and forward Stefan Dimitrov have not started an MLS game yet for the Fire this season. "You have to get the balance right," Hamlett said. "There are a lot of games in a short period of time. These guys haven't really played much, but they played to their strength and didn't try to do too much." While no youngster, Justin Mapp had started just one of the last nine league games coming into SuperLiga after starting the first four games of the year - and contributed with the game's lone goal. He scored the first goal of the season for the Fire but had not scored since. ''It's just a good chance to get the minutes,'' Mapp said. ''I haven't been starting a lot, so to get out there and help us get the win feels good.''
Tigres UANL
Before the second game of SuperLiga 2009, Tigres technical director Daniel Guzmán arrived in the USA with nine first-team players in tow. However, he complied with his promise after the 2-1 victory against Chivas USA, keeping six of the young players who started that game in the team against San Luis. Now he will be faced with a must-win game against Chicago. "We're going to face the game against Chicago on Saturday with complete seriousness, trying to win the game in order to advance in the competition and then begin preparing 100 percent for the league season." Guzmán had other reasons for being content with his decision. "We have only been together for 15 days," Guzman said. "We may have lost the game but I won a lot by looking at these young players that I will consider for league competition." If qualification for the semifinals isn't enough, for the Tigres manager to see his team face one containing Cuauhtémoc Blanco will be something more entirely. "I managed Blanco at Santos Laguna and for me he is the best player that I've ever seen in Mexico and I'm going to be very emotional to face him Saturday with Chicago - I hope he plays," Guzmán said.
State of play
If the Chicago Fire tie or win against Tigres UANL, they will claim one of the two semifinal berths. If Chicago and Chivas both win, the final berth will come down to goal differential. If Chivas win by two goals or more, they will qualify for the semifinals; If Chivas win by a single goal, then San Luis will be the second semifinalist. If both games end in draws, San Luis will claim the second berth based on their head-to-head victory vs. Tigres. If Tigres and San Luis win, there will be a three-way tie atop the group. If Tigres defeats Chicago by two goals or more, Tigres and San Luis will advance.
Previous encounters
The Chicago Fire have faced Mexican competition just once previously. In the 2002 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, they lost to CA Monarcas Morelia in the quarterfinals. Before SuperLiga 2009, Tigres UANL have never faced an MLS club in official competition.
