1998 Chicago Fire season

Chicago Fire
1998 season
Head coach	Bob Bradley
Major League Soccer	West: 2nd; Overall: 3rd
MLS Cup Playoffs	Winners
U.S. Open Cup	Winners
Brimstone Cup	Winners
	Home colors
	Home colors
	1999 →

The 1998 Chicago Fire season was the Chicago Fire Soccer Club's inaugural season of existence, and their first season in Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer.

The Chicago Fire enjoyed one of the strongest debuts for an expansion club in the history of American soccer and of the North American sports leagues in general. The Fire won the double by winning both MLS Cup '98 and the 1998 U.S. Open Cup Final, both in a five-day timespan. It was the first time that an expansion franchise in any of the major American sports leagues won the league championship. The next time an expansion franchise would reach the championship of their respective sports league would be 20 years later, when the first-year Vegas Golden Knights NHL ice hockey team reached the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals.

Background

The last professional soccer club to play in the Chicago area was the Chicago Sting, who played in the original NASL from 1974 to 1983, and then in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 to 1988. The Sting won two Soccer Bowl championships: in 1981 and again in 1984.

The Chicago Fire were one of two new MLS expansion teams to join MLS in 1998, and the first two ever expansion teams in league history, the other team being the now-defunct Miami Fusion. The Fire were founded on October 8, 1997,^[1] on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. The club was named after the event. The club focused on recruiting players of various descent to reflect on the diversity of the region. The team brought in Polish players Piotr Nowak, Jerzy Podbrożny, and Roman Kosecki; the Mexican Jorge Campos; and the Czech Luboš Kubík.

Club

Roster

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth (Age)^[A]	Previous Club
Goalkeepers
	Jorge Campos	GK	(1966-10-15)October 15, 1966 (aged 32)	Cruz Azul
	Scott Coufal	GK	(1974-09-27)September 27, 1974 (aged 24)
	Kevin Rueda	GK	(1969-03-16)March 16, 1969 (aged 29)
	Zach Thornton	GK	(1973-10-10)October 10, 1973 (aged 25)
	David Winner	GK	(1971-04-23)April 23, 1971 (aged 27)
Defenders
	Diego Gutiérrez	DF	(1972-11-03)November 3, 1972 (aged 25)
	Ritchie Kotschau	DF	(1975-11-22)November 22, 1975 (aged 22)
	Luboš Kubík	CB	(1964-01-20)January 20, 1964 (aged 34)
	Francis Okaroh	CB	(1963-08-25)August 25, 1963 (aged 35)
	Mike Richardson	DF	(1968-10-08)October 8, 1968 (aged 30)
	Tom Soehn	DF	(1966-04-15)April 15, 1966 (aged 32)
	Brian Bates	DF	(1972-08-16)August 16, 1972 (aged 26)	Colorado Rapids
	C. J. Brown	CB	(1975-06-15)June 15, 1975 (aged 23)	San Francisco Bay Seals
	Andrew Lewis	DF	(1974-07-10)July 10, 1974 (aged 24)
	Joe Carver	DF	(1971-06-11)June 11, 1971 (aged 27)
Midfielders
	Chris Armas	MF	(1972-08-22)August 22, 1972 (aged 26)	LA Galaxy
	Zak Ibsen	MF	(1972-06-02)June 2, 1972 (aged 26)
	Josh Keller	MF	(1975-02-16)February 16, 1975 (aged 23)
	Manny Lagos	MF	(1971-06-11)June 11, 1971 (aged 27)
	Jesse Marsch	MF	(1973-11-08)November 8, 1973 (aged 24)
	Peter Nowak	MF	(1964-07-05)July 5, 1964 (aged 34)
	Jorge Salcedo	MF	(1972-09-27)September 27, 1972 (aged 26)
Forwards
	Frank Klopas	FW	(1966-09-01)September 1, 1966 (aged 32)
	Roman Kosecki	FW	(1966-02-15)February 15, 1966 (aged 32)
	Tony Kuhn	FW	(1975-12-15)December 15, 1975 (aged 22)
	Jerzy Podbrożny	FW	(1966-12-17)December 17, 1966 (aged 31)
	Ante Razov	FW	(1974-03-02)March 2, 1974 (aged 24)
	Josh Wolff	FW	(1977-02-25)February 25, 1977 (aged 21)

^

Player's age during the 1998 season.

Team management

Position	Staff
General Manager	Peter Wilt
Head Coach	Bob Bradley
Assistant Coach
Assistant Coach
Goalkeeper Coach

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Competitive

Major League Soccer

Standings

Western Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	SOW	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Los Angeles Galaxy	32	22	2	8	85	44	+41	68	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Chicago Fire	32	18	2	12	62	45	+17	56
3	Colorado Rapids	32	14	2	16	62	69	−7	44
4	Dallas Burn	32	11	4	17	43	59	−16	37
5	San Jose Clash	32	10	3	19	48	60	−12	33
6	Kansas City Wizards	32	10	2	20	45	50	−5	32

Source: MLS

Overall table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	SOW	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Los Angeles Galaxy (S)	32	22	2	8	85	44	+41	68	CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2	D.C. United	32	17	7	8	74	48	+26	58
3	Chicago Fire (C)	32	18	2	12	62	45	+17	56
4	Columbus Crew	32	15	0	17	67	56	+11	45
5	Colorado Rapids	32	14	2	16	62	69	−7	44

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield

Results by round

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32
Stadium	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A
Result	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	SO	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	L

Source: Chicago-Fire.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; L = Loss; SO = Shootout Win

Match reports

March 21, 1998 (1998-03-21) 1	Miami Fusion	0–2	Chicago Fire	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
	Vaudreuil 26' Gutierrez 31' Serna 49' Kooiman 65' Kmosko 90'	Report	Okaroh 57' Kosecki 76' Kotschau 87'	Stadium: Lockhart Stadium Attendance: 14,653 Referee: Arturo Angeles

April 4, 1998 (1998-04-04) 2	Chicago Fire	2–0	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Chicago
	Brown 22' Klopas 43', 88' Armas 81' Kubík 87'	Report	Houser 4' 29' Ralston 6' Kinnear 49' Lassiter 59'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 36,444 Referee: Esse Baharmast

April 8, 1998 (1998-04-08) 3	Kansas City Wizards	1–0	Chicago Fire	Kansas City, Missouri
	Okafor 33' Šabanadžović 66' Marino 76'	Report		Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium Attendance: 4,130 Referee: Kevin Terry

April 11, 1998 (1998-04-11) 4	San Jose Clash	1–0	Chicago Fire	San Jose, California
	Mella 26' Cerritos 37' Rodriguez 86'	Report	Isben 32'	Stadium: Spartan Stadium Attendance: 9,937 Referee: Marcel Yonan

April 17, 1998 (1998-04-17) 5	Chicago Fire	0–1	MetroStars	Chicago, Illinois
	Klopas 73'	Report	Zavagnin 5' Lalas 14' Semioli 34' Sorber 48' 90' Rooney 58' Hurtado 90'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 24,661 Referee: Juan Carlos Paniagua

April 25, 1998 (1998-04-25) 6	Colorado Rapids	4–4 (3–1 SO)	Chicago Fire	Denver, Colorado
	Paule 26' Sáenz 35', 48' Martinez 72' Bravo 80'	Report	Kosecki 10' Klopas 39', 43' Marsch 87'	Stadium: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 10,736 Referee: Refugio Ramirez
	Shootout
	Henderson Martinez Harris Bravo		Kosecki Razov Kubík Marsch

May 2, 1998 (1998-05-02) 7	Chicago Fire	1–3	D.C. United	Chicago, Illinois
	Klopas 9' Kosecki 65'	Report	Sanneh 13' Etcheverry 14', 86' Lassiter 19' Llamosa 25' Talley 85' Olsen 88'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 27,136 Referee: Reggie Rutty

May 16, 1998 (1998-05-16) 8	Tampa Bay Mutiny	1–2	Chicago Fire	Tampa, Florida
	Gilmar 30'	Report	Podbrożny 21' Klopas 35' Nowak 79'	Stadium: Houlihan's Stadium Attendance: 6,391 Referee: Arturo Angeles

May 20, 1998 (1998-05-20) 9	Chicago Fire	3–1	Los Angeles Galaxy	Chicago, Illinois
	Nowak 37', 68' Podbrożny 57' Kosecki 58'	Report	Vásquez 66' Wélton 75' Sánchez 87'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 10,520 Referee: Alex Prus
Note: Match originally scheduled for May 9, 1998

May 23, 1998 (1998-05-23) 10	Chicago Fire	5–0	Colorado Rapids	Chicago, Illinois
	Brown 21' Razov 51' Podbrożny 55', 63' Kosecki 57' Okaroh 61' Wolff 86'	Report	Paz 16' Henderson 19' 72' Trittschuh 85'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 23,789 Referee: Marcel Yonan
Note: Match originally scheduled for May 24, 1998

May 30, 1998 (1998-05-30) 11	Los Angeles Galaxy	1–1 (1–3 SO)	Chicago Fire	Pasadena, California
	Cienfuegos 3' Jolley 23' Fraser 38' Mathis 58'	Report	Kubík 31' Razov 49', 61' Okaroh 55'	Stadium: Rose Bowl Attendance: 28,241 Referee: Rich Grady
	Shootout
	Mathis Karapetyan Vanney Cienfuegos		Razov Marsch Kubík Isben Nowak

June 6, 1998 (1998-06-06) 12	Chicago Fire	2–0	Columbus Crew	Chicago, Illinois
	Razov 3' Kotschau 8' Brown 48' Nowak 52'	Report	Elcock 81'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 19,801 Referee: Noel Kenny

June 11, 1998 (1998-06-11) 13	Chicago Fire	5–2	San Jose Clash	Chicago, Illinois
	Razov 4' Nowak 33', 49' Kotschau 52' Wolff 74'	Report	Lozzano 8' Uribe 76' Cerritos 80'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 7,598 Referee: Kevin Stott

June 14, 1998 (1998-06-14) 14	New England Revolution	1–3	Chicago Fire	Foxborough, Massachusetts
	Baba 24' Díaz Arce 39' (pen.) Mohammed 54' McKinley 58'	Report	Podbrożny 25', 85' Kotschau 51', 60'	Stadium: Foxboro Stadium Attendance: 17,054 Referee: Tim Weyland

June 17, 1998 (1998-06-17) 15	Chicago Fire	1–0	Dallas Burn	Chicago, Illinois
	Kubík 64' (pen.) Armas 85'	Report	Álvarez 33' Soehn 55' Eck 88' Santel 90'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 9,638 Referee: Michael Kennedy
Note: Match originally scheduled for May 13, 1998

June 24, 1998 (1998-06-24) 16	Chicago Fire	4–1	Kansas City Wizards	Chicago, Illinois
	Okaroh 12' Razov 26' Brown 36' Kosecki 56', 76'	Report	Johnston 15'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 13,396 Referee: Arturo Angeles

July 1, 1998 (1998-07-01) 17	Chicago Fire	4–1	Dallas Burn	Chicago, Illinois
	Kubík 7', 49' Razov 16' Kosecki 20' Podbrożny 36'	Report	Haynes 14' Trotman 35' Pollard 66'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 13,615 Referee: Kevin Terry

July 4, 1998 (1998-07-04) 18	Dallas Burn	0–1	Chicago Fire	Dallas
	Flores 41' Rodríguez 68' Elliott 83'	Report	Kubík 37' Kosecki 44' Brown 75'	Stadium: Cotton Bowl Attendance: 12,372 Referee: Tim Weyland

July 9, 1998 (1998-07-09) 19	Columbus Crew	3–0	Chicago Fire	Columbus, Ohio
	John 8' Dooley 34' Smith 40' McBride 68'	Report		Stadium: Ohio Stadium Attendance: 10,091 Referee: Paul Tamberino

July 18, 1998 (1998-07-18) 20	D.C. United	4–1	Chicago Fire	Washington, D.C.
	Lassiter 53' (p), 69', 90' Williams 56' Moreno 78'	Report	Marsch 38', 49'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 16,779 Referee: Esse Baharmast

July 25, 1998 (1998-07-25) 21	MetroStars	3–2	Chicago Fire	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Hurtado 6' Sorber 19' Joseph 25' Duhaney 38' Kelly 45' Vega 54' Lalas 70' Rooney 89'	Report	Kubík 20' Armas 55' Okaroh 83' Kosecki 86'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 15,130 Referee: Brian Hall

July 29, 1998 (1998-07-29) 22	San Jose Clash	3–0	Chicago Fire	San Jose, California
	Cloutier 32' Medved 50' Doyle 61' Baicher 70', 74' Wynalda 77'	Report	Soehn 7' Kosecki 60' Gutiérrez 68' Podbrożny 76'	Stadium: Spartan Stadium Attendance: 12,299 Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela

August 8, 1998 (1998-08-08) 23	Chicago Fire	1–2	Los Angeles Galaxy	Chicago, Illinois
	Kosecki 25' Soehn 31' Pena 87' (o.g.)	Report	Cienfuegos 23' Okaroh 37' (o.g.) Machón 41' Jolley 90'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 37,122 Referee: Paul Tamberino

August 15, 1998 (1998-08-15) 24	Chicago Fire	2–1	San Jose Clash	Chicago, Illinois
	Kosecki 15' Kubík 61' Campos 64' Wolff 80'	Report	Cerritos 7' Mella 32' Vásquez 87'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 16,610 Referee: Ted Covaciu

August 21, 1998 (1998-08-21) 25	Colorado Rapids	0–2	Chicago Fire	Denver, Colorado
	Vermes 64' Paz 75'	Report	Kubík 64' (pen.) Armas 67'	Stadium: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 24,450 Referee: Tim Weyland

August 29, 1998 (1998-08-29) 26	Kansas City Wizards	2–2 (2–3 SO)	Chicago Fire	Kansas City, Missouri
	Chung 3' Johnston 14', 64'	Report	Gutiérrez 22' Marsch 26' Razov 53' Brown 64' Podbrożny 90'	Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium Attendance: 8,621 Referee: Sandra Hunt
	Shootout
	Chung Takawira DeBrito Okafor Tinsley Johnson Vermillion Rideout Bowers Snitko Chung Takawira		Kubík Razov Wolff Podbrożny Isben Armas Gutiérrez Kosecki Okaroh Thornton Kubík Razov

September 2, 1998 (1998-09-02) 27	Chicago Fire	3–2	Miami Fusion	Chicago, Illinois
	Razov 19', 38' Marsch 74' Wolff 83'	Report	Marshall 63' Gutierrez 68' Cullen 71'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 11,319 Referee: Jose Manuel Garcia Aranda
Note: Match originally scheduled for July 11, 1998

September 10, 1998 (1998-09-10) 28	Dallas Burn	3–2	Chicago Fire	Dallas, Texas
	Kreis 7' Washington 83' Rodríguez 90'	Report	Klopas 43' Razov 49' Wolff 60' Okaroh 70' Keller 74'	Stadium: Cotton Bowl Attendance: 9,745 Referee: Ali Saheli

September 13, 1998 (1998-09-13) 29	Chicago Fire	3–1	Colorado Rapids	Chicago, Illinois
	Wolff 12', 27' Razov 15'	Report	Jakins 48' DiGiamarino 57' Vaudreuil 78' Henderson 87'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 15,014 Referee: Kevin Terry

September 17, 1998 (1998-09-17) 30	Chicago Fire	1–0	Kansas City Wizards	Chicago, Illinois
	Marsch 34' Kubík 59' (pen.)	Report	Tinsley 16'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 8,283 Referee: Noel Kenny

September 23, 1998 (1998-09-23) 31	Chicago Fire	3–2	New England Revolution	Chicago, Illinois
	Kubík 34' (pen.) Brown 57' Klopas 74' Podbrożny 87' Wolff 89'	Report	Gorter 43' Burns 68'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 11,244 Referee: Michael Kennedy

September 27, 1998 (1998-09-27) 32	Los Angeles Galaxy	1–0	Chicago Fire	Pasadena, California
	Jones 87'	Report		Stadium: Rose Bowl Attendance: 20,105 Referee: Ali Saheli

MLS Cup Playoffs

Western Conference semifinals

October 1, 1998 (1998-10-01) Game 1	Chicago Fire	1–1 (3–2 SO)	Colorado Rapids	Chicago, Illinois
	Kubík 50' (pen.) Gutiérrez 60'	Report	Bent 26' Trittschuh 49' Bravo 66' Sáenz 79'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 12,610 Referee: Kevin Terry
	Shootout
	Kubík Soehn Klopas Wolff Kuhn Marsch		Bravo Sáenz Henderson Vaudreuil Harris Vermes

October 5, 1998 (1998-10-05) Game 2	Colorado Rapids	0–1	Chicago Fire	Denver, Colorado
	Trittschuh 10'	Report	Wolff 18' Kubík 24' (pen.) Marsch 66' Armas 75'	Stadium: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 6,582 Referee: Noel Kenny

Western Conference finals

October 10, 1998 (1998-10-10) Game 1	Los Angeles Galaxy	0–1	Chicago Fire	Pasadena, California
	Franchino 65'	Report	Armas 41' Kubík 68' Marsch 86'	Stadium: Rose Bowl Attendance: 25,107 Referee: Kevin Terry

October 16, 1998 (1998-10-16) Game 2	Chicago Fire	1–1 (2–1 SO)	Los Angeles Galaxy	Chicago, Illinois
	Nowak 31'	Report	Pena 37', 50'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 32,744 Referee: Paul Tamberino
	Shootout
	Nowak Razov Soehn Marsch Podbrożny		Jones Wélton Machón Cienfuegos Vanney

MLS Cup

October 25, 1998 (1998-10-25) MLS Cup	Chicago Fire	2–0	D.C. United	Pasadena, California
	Podbrożny 29' Razov 31' Gutiérrez 45', 50' Marsch 60'	Report	Sanneh 25' Etcheverry 33'	Stadium: Rose Bowl Attendance: 51,350 Referee: Kevin Terry

U.S. Open Cup

July 6, 1998 Third round

Chicago Stingers

1–3

Chicago Fire

Arlington Heights, Illinois

July 22, 1998 (1998-07-22) Quarterfinals	Chicago Fire	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	San Jose Clash	Dallas, Texas
	Kubík 48', 55'		Baicher 65' Gough 94' Draguicevich 99'	Stadium: Cotton Bowl Attendance: 3,812 Referee: Kevin Terry
	Penalties
	Kubík Wolff Razov Kuhn Gutiérrez		Medved Wynalda Mella Cerritos Gough

August 4, 1998 (1998-08-04) Semifinals	Chicago Fire	3–2	Dallas Burn	Metairie, Louisiana
	Razov 11' Gutiérrez 40' 66' Okaroh 45' Kosecki 56', 71' 71' Kubík 74'		Trotman 23', 44' Pollard 34' Deering 40' Kreis 52' Álvarez 83' (pen.)	Stadium: Zephyr Field Attendance: 6,514 Referee: Rich Grady

October 30, 1998 (1998-10-30) Final	Chicago Fire	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Columbus Crew	Chicago, Illinois
	Keller 17' Podbrożny 45' (pen.) Okaroh 60' Brown 69' Klopas 99'		Sommer 43' John 53' Maisonneuve 60' Elcock 61'	Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 18,615 Referee: Arturo Angeles

Statistics

Appearances and Goalscorers

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS		MLS Cup		US Open Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
14	MF	USA	Chris Armas	39	1	31	1	5	0	3	0
5	DF	CZE	Luboš Kubík	40	11	31	7	5	2	4	2
2	DF	USA	C. J. Brown	37	2	28	2	5	0	4	0
20	DF	NGA	Francis Okaroh	33	0	26	0	5	0	2	0
15	MF	USA	Jesse Marsch	38	3	25+4	2	5	1	4	0
11	FW	POL	Roman Kosecki	28	10	25	9	1	0	2	1
9	FW	POL	Jerzy Podbrożny	34	8	25+1	6	5	1	3	1
12	FW	USA	Ante Razov	38	11	24+6	10	5	0	2+1	1
10	MF	POL	Piotr Nowak	31	7	24	6	5	1	1+1	0
18	GK	USA	Zach Thornton	33	0	23+2	0	5	0	3	0
3	DF	USA	Ritchie Kotschau	26	4	23+1	4	0	0	2	0
41	FW	USA	Frank Klopas	33	8	17+10	6	1+2	0	2+1	2
8	MF	USA	Diego Gutiérrez	21	2	8+5	0	5	1	3	1
1	GK	MEX	Jorge Campos	10	0	8+1	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	USA	Jorge Salcedo	11	0	6+5	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	USA	Andrew Lewis	15	0	6+7	0	0	0	2	0
6	DF	USA	Tom Soehn	11	0	6	0	0+5	0	0	0
25	DF	USA	Zak Ibsen	34	0	5+22	0	0+3	0	2+2	0
16	FW	USA	Josh Wolff	23	9	4+10	8	3+2	0	3+1	1
19	MF	USA	Josh Keller	9	0	3+3	0	0	0	1+2	0
	DF	USA	Brian Bates	4	0	2+2	0	0	0	0	0
22	FW	USA	Tony Kuhn	7	0	1+4	0	0+1	0	1	0
24	GK	USA	Scott Coufal	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
7	MF	USA	Manny Lagos	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF	ENG	Michael Richardson	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

Rank	Pos.	No.	Player	MLS	MLS Cup	US Open Cup	Total

Transfers

Transfers in

No.	Pos.	Player	From	Fee	Date	Source

Transfers out

No.	Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Source

Loan in

No.	Pos.	Player	Loaned from	Start	End	Source

Loan out

No.	Pos.	Player	Loaned to	Start	End	Source

Awards

References

^ "Chicago Fire Club History". chicago-fire.com.

External links

[cnote_A_grp_1] 
Player's age during the 1998 season.

[1] "Chicago Fire Club History". chicago-fire.com.

[1]

[A]

v t e 1998 MLS season by team
College Draft Supplemental Draft All-Star Game Playoffs MLS Cup Transfers
Eastern	Columbus Crew D.C. United Miami Fusion New England Revolution MetroStars Tampa Bay Mutiny
Western	Chicago Fire Colorado Rapids Dallas Burn Kansas City Wizards Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Clash