BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Six games into the 2008 MLS season, the Chicago Fire have their its first rematch of the season, and it's a juicy one.
On Saturday, the Fire visit the New England Revolution, who suffered an embarrassing 4-0 loss at the hands of the Fire exactly one month ago at Toyota Park in the Fire's home opener. In that game, the Fire scored four times in the first half, the Revolution saw a player red-carded 11 minutes in, and the entire affair was somewhat embarrassing to the defending Eastern Conference champions.
As the victors in that game, the Fire know they must prepare to face the Revolution's first shot at retribution. The Fire-Revolution rivalry is already one of the more explosive ones in the league, and the events of April 3 only serve to make it a more ribald relationship.
"It is pretty clear this is one of the best rivalries in Major League Soccer," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "They have knocked us out of the playoffs, I don't know how many years in a row. And nobody likes to lose 4-0. They are going to have an edge to show they are a better than that score indicated. We have to prepare ourselves going into Boston. It will be a playoff-type game and we have to be ready to compete."
The Fire are coming off an impressive 2-1 win against the Colorado Rapids last week in a game in which John Thorrington scored twice. Thorrington's scoring output gives Hamlett some food for thought in terms of lineup, because Thorrington was playing his attacking midfielder position ahead of Chris Rolfe, a U.S. national team candidate who has been working his way back into playing shape after an early season injury.
"Chris is a guy coming off his injury who wants to get back on the field and he has to show us that he should be on the field," Hamlett said. "That is what we want, competition at every position. On the other side of it, we have make sure the guys who played the last game work hard to keep their spots."
Rolfe was pushed back into the midfield at the start of the season to allow Hamlett to employ all of his talent at forward, including Polish veteran Tomasz Frankowski, whose last two goals were in the New England game. But with the performance of forward Chad Barrett, who has missed some easy scoring opportunities in recent games, plus the availability of Rolfe and forwards Andy Herron and Calen Carr, Hamlett has some choices to make.
"That is the goal we set out at the beginning, to have a 28-man roster that is very competitive," Hamlett said. "We need that when you consider injuries, call-ups, and different things that happen throughout the season. When you call a guy up, you hope there is no drop-off in performance. As long as you are honest and upfront and you make decisions that are the best for the team, that is the most important thing."
Much was made this week of the Fire's signing of Lider Marmol, the Paraguayan defender, with suggestions that his addition to the team will crowd an already strong defensive lineup. Marmol will not be available to play until his visa is successfully submitted, but when that happens, he will be in competition for playing time with Bakary Soumare, Diego Gutierrez, Gonzalo Segares, Brandon Prideaux, Wilman Conde and Dasan Robinson. Veteran C.J. Brown, who is trying to recover from a hip injury, would add to the mix.
"We do have some quality players back there," said Prideaux, who has added stability at right back after being picked up off the waiver wire this year. "When we do get shutouts, or even give up one goal, it is not just the work of the back four. It is the guys in front who are doing the dirty work, making it easy for us."
This is the first of two consecutive road games for the Fire, who don't play their next home game until May 17. But the Fire, who have only given up three goals all season, are 1-0-1 on the road this season.
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