GAME PREVIEW: Chicago at Dallas, 8/10/02

Call it the terrible twos. Saturday's match between the Fire and Burn is the second leg of "The Brimstone Cup," the manifestation of the teams' fierce rivalry created by fans of both squads. The Brimstone Cup is in its second year, and at this particular juncture, both teams are in second place in their conferences. The Fire have also won only twice in the Cotton Bowl, and with all the talk of the artificial turf at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville, maybe the blistering heat will prepare them for an afternoon start in Dallas. Aside from the heat, Bob Bradley's squad is quite familiar with this opponent, as Mike Jeffries' Burn is more or less the same bunch the Fire have faced previously, with a couple of exceptions.

First is midfielder Ronnie O'Brien, who has added some spark to the Burn squad as a late substitution. The 23-year old from Ireland has won games for the Burn, but still hasn't displaced Oscar Pareja or Joselito Vaca in the starting lineup. Continuing our rule of twos, second is second-year forward Ed Johnson, who Dallas fans billed as the second coming after a preseason tear. Both of these players are young and fast, which may explain why they can be effective as late-game substitutions, particularly at home (where the Burn has only lost once in its last nine games) when the heat is a factor.

On the bright side for the visitors, the Fire have not allowed a goal in 237 minutes, and newcomer Orlando Perez has strengthened the defense by moving Carlos Bocanegra into the middle. With additional help from midfielders Jesse Marsch and Billy Walsh, the Fire should be able to bottle up service from Pareja and Vaca, although both Burn middies tend to strike through the center of the field, where the Fire tend to be a bit more vulnerable than the flanks. And while forward Jason Kreis had a big game in Naperville in June, scoring two goals en route to a 3-1 Burn win, that was against a patchwork lineup that included two rookies, and A-leaguer and no World Cup players.

Offensively, the Fire have their work cut out for them. Since the World Cup, the front line has been erratic at best, following up a dominating three-goal performance with goose eggs. This makes it a bit hard to predict how the team will fare, even more so when you factor in a 4-0 brain fart on the part of a typically solid Burn defense against San Jose a few weeks back. Can Beasley get space to run? Can Wolff get behind the defense? Can Kovalenko keep his head as midfield "general"? Can Ante get another two goals and an assist? Please?

The Fire need to win this game, as it represents the game in hand over the Metrostars in the standings, and a win vaults the team into first place in the East. A tie puts them even, and after this setup, can the result be anything but a 2-2 tie?