SUPERLIGA PREVIEW: TIGRES VS. FIRE

$1 million prize at stake for Wednesday's winner

The Chicago Fire and Tigres UANL battle for the 2009 SuperLiga championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Toyota Park (televised on TeleFutura). The winner earns a $1 million prize, and the U.S.-Mexico bragging rights are always a sub-factor.

Quite a bit has happened since the last time the Fire faced Tigres during SuperLiga group play.

For starters, Chicago's defense has reached a higher level of late, posting three straight shutouts in Major League Soccer action. In comparison, Fire head coach Denis Hamlett was incredibly disappointed with the defensive unit following a 2-1 loss to Tigres on June 27.

Despite that defeat, Chicago still advanced to the SuperLiga semis. And since that match, the Fire have not allowed more than one goal in a single game.

"We have an older group. We know what it's about," Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said regarding the team's success of late. "We know when it's time to get going. And this is our time to get going. Nobody needs to kick us in the (butt). We know. We're a very experienced group."

On the offensive side, it's still a bit of a work in progress without injured forward Brian McBride. But Chicago is finding enough to get by and post a positive result - a 2-0-1 record, to be exact in McBride's absence. In the case of the Fire's recent 1-0 victory against Real Salt Lake, forward Patrick Nyarko scored for a second straight home game, while fellow forward Chris Rolfe had an off night with some of his touches and decisions.

"Some guys have an off night, other nights you're good. But that's what the team's about - different guys step up," Hamlett said. "I still think the combination of (Rolfe) and Patrick caused (Real Salt Lake) some problems. I felt that we made sure they pulled their center backs out and got some isolations."

Over the weekend, Hamlett did not play MLS All-Stars Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Wilman Conde at midfield and defense, respectively. Blanco injured his ankle on Friday and Conde has had a lingering hamstring problem. Also missing Saturday was midfielder John Thorrington, who was serving a red card suspension. But Thorrington is now doubtful to participate this week with a right groin strain. And Conde's left hamstring strain lists him as out on the injury list.

These will be some difficult setbacks to try and get through the SuperLiga title match and especially on the road against the MLS-leading Houston Dynamo on Sunday.

If the Fire can somehow manage to overcome these obstacles for a championship trophy and $1 million, even Dr. Evil would be proud of their efforts.

SUPERLIGA: TIGRES UANL 2, FIRE 1

Despite loss, Chicago advances to SuperLiga semis

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - The Chicago Fire advanced to the semifinals in SuperLiga 2009 play under their own terms, but it wasn’t easy. And it sure wasn’t pretty.

The Fire needed a win, draw or a defeat by less than two goals. They wound up with the latter as Tigres UANL topped Chicago, 2-1, on Saturday at Toyota Park. The Tigres also advanced to the semifinals out of Group A on Saturday as San Luis and Major League Soccer’s Chivas USA played to a 1-all draw.

“Absolutely terrible. A disgrace,” Fire head coach Denis Hamlett said of the team’s defensive effort. “The first minute, we could have been down maybe 2- or 3-0. We talked about it before in terms of going out there with the right mentality. I’m disappointed to the start of the game. We backed out of tackles. We didn’t want to make a tackle. Both goals we had enough guys back to make a play and we didn’t.

“I told the guys in the locker room that if we have this type of attitude, then we’re not going to win anything. If we show what we did in the first two games, then I think we have a good chance of going far.”

The Tigres struck first when they utilized a heavy doze of passing sequences to get through the Fire’s defense in the 37th minute. Armanda Pulido was in prime position for an easy goal past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch with Manuel Viniegra and Jonathan DeLeon assisting.

In the second half, a great offensive opportunity turned into a horrendous sequence for the Fire. In the 60th minute, Cuauhtemoc Blanco drew a yellow card from Pulido just above the box. But the Tigres’ wall blocked a shot attempt on the free kick. Pulido then jumped on the ball and literally went coast-to-coast. Logan Pause tried to slow him up and definitely could have been charged with a foul if Pulido didn’t maintain possession. With a few more dribbles, he tallied an unassisted goal in the 61st minute for a 2-0 lead.

Under the circumstances, with a two-goal deficit, the Fire would have been reliant on some help from Chivas USA against San Luis. Thankfully for Fire’s sake, they took matters into their own hands.

Patrick Nyarko, who subbed for Chris Rolfe (pictured above) in the second half, drew a Tigres penalty in the box in the 84th minute. In the 85th, Blanco hammered home the penalty kick to the left side of the goal. Tigres goalkeeper Enrique Palos guessed the correct direction, but could not stop the shot as the Fire cut their deficit to 2-1.

“We fought hard in the end and we were able to get through. But we know we can play better,” Fire forward Brian McBride said.

The early stages of the match were back-and-forth, not necessarily the type of game the Fire wanted while hoping to maintain the pace for a win or draw. The Tigres had some early chances, including within the first minute of play. But the Fire kept a clean sheet early.

Chicago could have gotten on the board first and deserved a penalty kick in the 28th minute when the Tigres committed a handball in the box during Rolfe’s offensive attack. Referee Kevin Thomas did not notice the clear handball, but pretty much all of Toyota Park did.

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Next up: The Fire continue their non-MLS slate of games when they hit the road to face the Wilmington Hammerheads at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup.

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SlideTackles.net thoughts: You won’t hear any discrepancy between Hamlett’s and my views of this game. Hamlett pretty much hit it right on the nose.

Not only was the defense poor, but the ball movement was sloppy, particularly some passes to the flanks. For whatever reason the timing was off with everything. Clearances of the ball were a burden in the defensive third.

Typical right defensive back Tim Ward was given a chance to contribute in the midfield, but he made no impact and seemed content to fall back to a defensive position anyway. Hamlett made the correct move when Baggio Husidic was brought into the game for Brandon Prideaux in the second half. Husidic played in the mid and Ward dropped back in Prideaux’s spot.

It’s time to quickly forget about this disappointing effort and prepare for another busy week, with U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday and a return to MLS play next Saturday at Colorado.