Dynamo visit Fire with trip to USOC semifinal on the line: What to watch for
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo finish up a stretch of three road matches in seven days tonight when the visit the Chicago Fire in the quartertinal round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Houston is coming off a 3-0 loss to St. Louis CITY SC over the weekend. The Dynamo beat Minnesota United 4-0 in the USOC Round of 16. Chicago was beaten by FC Cincinnati 1-0 over the weekend. The Fire knocked off Austin FC in their Round of 16 match, by a score of 2-0.
When: Tuesday, June 6 | 7:30 PM CT kickoff
Where: SeatGeek Stadium; Bridgeview, Illinois
TV/Stream: CBS Sports Golazo Network
And then there were eight
Only 8 teams remain with a shot at lifting the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and all that goes along with it, including a place in the Concacaf Champions Cup (newly renamed). The Dynamo have two very tough league games coming up against LAFC Saturday and next Wednesday, so the chance at a trophy should take on even more meaning. The USOC semifinal isn’t until August 23 so there’s no reason to worry about adding more fixtures in this busy stretch if you win. Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen won the cup as a coach with D.C. United and the Dynamo as a team won it in 2018. Olsen has said previously how much he respects the Open Cup and wants to do everything he can to win it. “We want to advance. It's an important competition, and there's
a trophy at the end of this,” Olsen said this week. “That’s what we do this for. Just for that one night of glory. I think the guys understand that, and they're excited about the match.” With the MLS season going the way it is right now, this is more than likely Houston’s best shot at having a successful 2023. It’s reached the stage of the tournament where it’s time to put everything else aside and go for this game with everything you’ve got.
Clean up and regroup
Saturday’s loss in St. Louis, on the heels of the loss in Vancouver, has the Dynamo reeling a bit. Houston will need to shake off Saturday’s loss, quickly, and all that went with it. If you ask Olsen, though, he doesn’t think the loss in St. Louis was necessarily bad. “It’s still about responding to a loss, and I thought the last game was good,” Olsen said. “I know it's hard to say after a 3-0 loss, but there was a lot of good in terms of an emotional response. I thought the energy was right. You give up two soft penalty kicks in my mind, and then we have to do better on the set piece. Then, of course, on the other end, there's plenty of looks that we just need to have better quality. So, we’re cleaning up a few things for this game against Chicago. I think we'll have a good chance to get the result we want, and that's to advance in the Open Cup.” Anything can happen in one game, even after a long road trip with tired legs. With a few things cleaned up, tonight could be a chance to regroup, not just now, but for the remainder of the season.
Putting out the Fire
Chicago has not had a great season, currently sitting in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and already having made a coaching change. This will be a big chance for the Fire to salvage something from their season as well. While they may not look like a good team on paper, the Chicago offense has the firepower to compete with anyone. The Swiss duo of Xherdan Shaqiri and Maren Haile-Selassie, along with Mexican Jairo Torres, can create chances and cause problems for any defense. Up front, Chicago has a number of options with the likes of Kacper Przybylko, Georgios Koutsias, and veteran Kei Kamara. “They have guys as good as they come in this league,” Olsen said when speaking about tonight’s opponent. “Shaqiri is a world class player who can change the game in different ways. His set pieces are dangerous, and he has good speed. The central midfield is strong. It’s a good team, and we'll have to be at our best.” The Dynamo won’t want to get into a back and forth scoring match with Chicago. Theyr’e going to need to be sound on defense to keep the Fire off the score sheet for their best chance to win this game and advance to the semifinals.
Availability Report
Houston Dynamo – Out: Ifunanyachi Achara (knee), Teenage Hadebe (leg), Tate Schmitt (knee)
Chicago Fire FC (as of 5/29) – Out: Carlos Teran (right upper leg), Chris Mueller (right upper leg), Sergio Oregel Jr. (right lower leg), Mauricio Pineda (concussion protocol); Questionable: Chris Brady (head), Jonathan Dean (left upper leg)
Predicted Lineup
