Chicago Fire fans can breathe a little easier after Friday night's 1-0 victory in an international friendly with MKS Cracovia.
Fire midfielder Willian Oliveira has been a great addition to the Chicago attack since he was acquired in late May. Oliveira scored the lone goal of the game but late in the second half, he limped off the field after getting tangled up with a Stripes player.
"One of their guys kicked my heel and it was pretty painful," Oliveira said. "I took myself out because I felt it was more important to rest it since it was not a league game and we have important MLS games coming up soon."
Although it was just a friendly, Chicago Fire interim head coach Denis Hamlett said his club should take pride in its victory over the Polish club.
"It's good anytime when you win," Hamlett said. "Neither team played like it was just a friendly and they both wanted to win. It's contagious if you win and considering the week we had, even though it was not a league game, it was still an important one."
Hamlett is at the helm as he replaced Dave Sarachan after Fire president and CEO John Guppy decided to relieve Sarachan of his duties on Wednesday.
Hamlett said he did not give a rah-rah speech before his first game as head coach of the Fire.
"It's not about me. This is about the Chicago Fire," Hamlett said. "These guys are professionals and they played with passion and togetherness and they guys did a great job."
Guppy said he was impressed with Hamlett's coaching ability and said the team should make a decision on a new coach very shortly.
"I have a few candidates in mind," Guppy said. "We would like to interview four to five candidates next week and then have a decision either late next week or early the following week."
Guppy said the hiring process has been an interesting one for him.
"I have my list of candidates but I have been pushed by other people, coaches and players, about who we should hire," Guppy said.
Calen Carr, who had two shots on the evening, said it has been an emotional time for Chicago since the firing of Sarachan.
"It's been a difficult week," Carr said. "Even though you can't prepare for something like that, the guys came to play and did a great job."
One person who impressed Hamlett was backup goalkeeper Jon Busch.
"We had planned for Jon to get the start and he played very well," Hamlett said. "He made some great saves and some key saves. The reason we got him was we knew we got a solid guy who could push Matt (Pickens) and come in at anytime. He also did a good job of controlling his defenders."
Timothy Hilton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
