Teams meet on 4th of July for the third time.

by Dan Gaichas

Colorado Rapids (5-3-6, 4th in West) vs. Chicago Fire (5-3-6, 4th in East)

 

The Chicago Fire return to league play on Saturday night and conclude a stretch of five matches in fourteen days as the take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It is the third time the two sides have met on the Fourth of July (2000 and 2002)--both in Denver and both Rapids wins. All-time, the Fire are 4-3-0 on Fourth of July with its most recent win coming in 2006 at home over Kansas City.

Like the Detroit Lions at Thanksgiving, the Colorado Rapids have traditionally hosted a Fourth of July match. Unlike the Lions, the Rapids have almost always won. They are 11-1-1 all-time on Fourth of July. Their last loss on Independence Day was in 1999 against Columbus.

The Rapids are coming off a 3-0 loss to Seattle last week, ending a club-record eight-match unbeaten streak. They currently sit fourth in the Western Conference four points behind the Sounders and one point ahead of Real Salt Lake.

The Sounders game was a game of missed opportunities for the Rapids, including a penalty miss from Omar Cummings.

"I thought we deserved to get beat 3-nil. In the first half we played as good as football as we have had in some time. The big differences in the game were the big plays, the goals -- the moments that we don't convert and Seattle does,"  said Rapids head coach Gary Smith.

The Rapids have no injury worries, but do lose Colin Clark (USA) and Cummings (Jamaica) to the Gold Cup.

If the Fire are intent on breaking their three-match losing streak in league play, this is not the best place to do it. The Fire have not won in Colorado since 1999. The Fire are coming off SuperLiga and Open Cup play where they advanced into the semifinals of the former despite losing their last match and crashing out of the later to USL-2 side Wilmington Hammerheads this past Tuesday. In all competitions, the Fire have lost five of their last seven matches.

John Thorrington should return to the Fire lineup after missing the last four matches to a thoracic disc pathology, but they lose Gonzalo Segares (Costa Rica) and Logan Pause (USA) to national team duty for the Gold Cup.

Against Tigres last Saturday, Fire coach Denis Hamlett termed his team’s defense as “absolutely terrible.” Against Wilmington, a makeshift squad could put find the net in defeat. The key for the Fire is to put in a much better performance than they have in the last two matches and come in with a more positive attitude than they have exhibited in recent matches. Otherwise, the winless streaks--overall, in league play, and in Colorado--will all continue.

Kickoff for the match is at 8pm CT, but the match can only be seen through the MLS Direct Kick package and on the Internet on www.mlslive.tv. Windy City Soccer will hold a live Tweet throughout the match. Go to twitter.com/windycitysoccer.

REFEREE: Jorge Gonzalez. SAR (bench): George Gansner; JAR (opposite): Anthony Vasoli; 4th: Ben Chouaf

INJURY REPORT:

COLORADO RAPIDS - NONE REPORTED

CHICAGO FIRE - PROBABLE: MF John Thorrington (thoracic disc pathology); DF Wilman Conde (L ankle sprain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES:

COL: Colin Clark (USA; CONCACAF Gold Cup); JAM: Omar Cummings (JAM; CONCACAF Gold Cup)

CHI: Gonzalo Segares (CRC; CONCACAF Gold Cup); Logan Pause (USA, CONCACAF Gold Cup)

SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD:

COL: Cory Gibbs, Ugo Ihemelu ...

CHI: Bakary Soumare, John Thorrington

LAST YEAR:

4/26/08:  CHI 2-1 COL

9/14/08:  COL 2-0 CHI