Hey everyone, I'm settled in at a very rainy Toyota Park and the Fire and Chivas are almost set to kick off their all-important match. The Fire will be looking for a win or a tie to clinch the Eastern Conference's second seed in the upcoming playoffs but Chivas will be gunning for a win to take the lead in the tightly-packed Western Conference.
As of right now it looks like the match will be starting a few minutes late, as the Chivas team bus hit traffic and only just arrived at the stadium. It looks like weather will play a significant factor in this one as well, as the rain is really coming down here at Toyota Park.
Finally, for those of you wondering Denis Hamlett just told a group of reporters (myself included) that the Fire is indeed going for all three points and not just the tie.
I'll be posting some thoughts/observations throughout the match so feel free to follow along and post a few comments of your own throughout the evening. Enjoy the game.
10 Comments
Sam Stejskal said:
Starting lineups have been announced, here they are:
Fire:
GK: Busch
DEF: Prideaux, Brown, Robinson, Banner
MID: Nyarko, Husidic, Pause, Pappa
FWD: McBride, Rolfe
Bench: Dykstra, Washington, Woolard, Blanco, Lowry, Mapp, Carr
Very surprised that Blanco isn't in the starting lineup. He has to be feeling nicked up otherwise I would have to imagine he would be in the starting lineup. The other big name missing for the Fire is Wilman Conde. Hamlett said that Conde had gotten over his flu but that he was still dealing with a hamstring injury.
Chivas USA:
GK: Thornton
DEF: Bornstein, Cuesta, Thomas, Trujillo
MID: Klejstan, Mayen, Saragosa, Padilla
FWD: Lillingston, Galindo
Bench: Conway, Jazic, Talley, Lahoud, Nagamura, Braun, Santos
Sam Stejskal said:
Here's what Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett had to say about the affect the rainy weather would have on the team's attack:
"I don’t think you attack differently," Hamlett said. "You might want to be able to whip some balls in harder on the ground because it is going to skip and it is going to be a little harder for the goalkeeper to read. But the guys have played in the rain many a time so [it shouldn't be a problem]."
bert said:
not suprised about temo...rain not good for hammies....could be a quick pitch....maybe finally get my 4-0 win. did you get to talk to armas yet?
Janjo said:
Janjo signing in on this rainy game; I am nice and toasty in the confines of the man cave watching it on ESPN2. I used my season ticket money for this fabulous 52" flat screen, to bad Fire office one less sucker not renewing.
bert said:
pappa gonna have a good game
Janjo said:
Hey who is braving the rain??
bert said:
janjo.....nice to see it in HD isnt it
Sam Stejskal said:
Halftime --
First half had a very slow beginning and you could tell neither team wanted to make an early mistake. The game opened up a bit for the Fire in the 15th minute or so and they started creating quite a few chances -- many of them coming off of crosses into the box. The closest either team came to scoring was in the 23rd minute when Chris Rolfe saw his long range effort deflect off Zach Thornton and the the post. Pretty good half for the Fire though, hopefully they'll continue to attack (they'll have the wind) in the second half.
Sam Stejskal said:
Very nice ceremony at halftime honoring Chris Armas's induction into the Ring of Fire. You could tell that Chris was very touched by the whole thing and it was pretty cool to see. Also good to see that Bob Bradley, Peter Wilt and Peter Nowak (along with Frank Klopas) made it out to Toyota Park for the ceremony.
Guillermo said:
Fantastic strategy by Hamlett today to bring in Blanco in the second half just in time for an own goal by Chivas. Just like he planned it.......now I'm certain he will lead us to the promised land.
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