CHAPTER 1 WASTING NO TIME Jaime Moreno steamed toward the goal The DC United forward had a golden chance to put his team ahead early Instead his shot sailed over the crossbar The relieved Chicago Fire players looked up at the scoreboard The match was only 15 seconds old It could be a long day If there was such a thing as a dynasty in a league that was only three years old DC United was it The men from the nation’s capital won the first two Major League Soccer MLS titles The Fire stood in their way of a third in the 1998 MLS Cup The Fire were anything but a dynasty Chicago was a team in its first year of existence Just getting to the final was a big accomplishment for such a new team Most people and the Chicago Fire Luboš Kubík bottom and the Chicago Fire had their hands full against Jaime Moreno and had their hands full against Jaime Moreno and DC United in the 1998 MLS Cup DC United in the 1998 MLS Cup 4
expected Chicago’s season to end in disappointment against the powerhouse that was DC United beat the Fire both times the teams met in the regular season by a combined score of 7 2 Both losses came during two five-match losing streaks the Fire endured In between those streaks they won 11 straight matches The Fire’s up-and-down performance made the season unpredictable but exciting THE RIGHT MIX Chicago did not lack talent Its players may have been new to each other but fans of world soccer were familiar with them The Fire had a trio of experienced Polish forwards in Piotr Nowak Roman Kosecki and Jerzy Podbrozny Along with Czech midfielder Luboš Kubík these players formed the so-called Eastern Bloc of Eastern European stars They were especially popular with Chicagoans of Eastern European heritage The Fire also had some young American stars such as midfielder Chris Armas striker Josh Wolff and goalkeeper Zach Thornton In addition they had a rising coaching star in head coach Bob Bradley He had been an assistant on DC United’s two title teams All three players would end up 6
Chicago star Piotr Nowak evades DC United defender Jeff Agoos in the 1998 MLS Cup playing for the US men’s national team And Bradley would become the national team's head coach DC had its share of talent as well Eight players and head coach Bruce Arena represented the club in that year’s MLS 7
