In less than a week, the Chicago Fire will visit Bayern Munich, and face the Bavarian powerhouse in the Bastian Schweinsteiger testimonial match. This friendly will no doubt serve as the lone bright spot as the Major League Soccer side plays out the string in a lost season.
Their loss to the New York Red Bulls on August 11 essentially eradicated whatever was left of their very slim playoff hopes, and the devastating defeat, just two days after they were eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup, set off Captain Dax McCarty. The Fire loss to the Montreal Impact Saturday night put the final nail in the coffin on their postseason hopes.
“We lost it and it’s a disappointment like the whole season was,” said Fire Head Coach Veljko Paunovic.
“We have to try to move from the bottom and try to not be the worst team in the league. And I think we have to show more pride from now on. Just training and doing preparations it just doesn’t get better.”
Yes indeed, this is how far the bottom has dropped out with #cf97
In 2017, they had the third best regular season record in MLS. Now they’re in dead last in the Eastern conference, and in very real danger of finishing with the worst record in the entire league.
Asked what his team has been lacking, Pauno did not hold back one bit.
“It’s self-pride,” he answered.
“When we’re in the final minutes of the game that is when we have to realize, especially when we have a good result, that we have to put more. That is when you have to defend better and not just give up. It’s a falling domino and nobody stops the domino, so it just goes down and down so deep until we break down. It’s been the whole season like that.”
“It’s not going in our direction,” added Schweinsteiger.
“Of course, we made mistakes on the field, but we always try to give our best. We don’t reward ourselves for our effort.”
“We gave away a lot of points in a very simple way. But the standings are how they are,” Schweinsteiger continued.
The Fire are currently tied for last place, but they have played two more games than their basement companions Orlando. There are still two months and eight games left to go in the regular season, and just not a whole lot to look forward to.
The trip to Bayern is very special though, and the Fire are no doubt honored to be a part of a fantastic celebration for an elite player at a juggernaut of a club.
Bayern Munich are the rulers of the Bundesliga, as they have absolutely dominated the German top flight in recent years. And Bastian Schweinsteiger is one of the most legendary figures in Deutschland fussball history, for both club and country.
In a season that the Fire will absolutely want to forget as soon as possible, this will be a night to remember for a lifetime.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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