This article is an expanded version of the one found on page 14 of the Feb. 5, 2001, issue of Soccer America Magazine. Fire quickly climbed the mountain The Chicago Fire’s three years have brought three trophies, success surpassed among MLS clubs only by D.C. United, which has been at it longer. Here are the highs and lows in Fire lore. BY SCOTT FRENCH GO EAST. Fire coach Bob Bradley pursued Polish midfielder Peter Nowak — a hard-working playmaker who had played in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany (with 1860 Munich) since leaving his homeland in 1990 — from the start, and fellow Poles Roman Kosecki and Jerzy Podbrozny and Czech Lubos Kubik soon joined up, too. “We felt it was important to have someone in back with experience, who was good on the ball, who could help us in building out of the back,” Bradley said about Kubik. “Lubos came to Orlando [on trial] for 10 days, which was a unbelievable thing for a player of his stature.” Nowak knew Kosecki, a “different kind of attacking player,” and Podbrozny had a reputation as a goalscorer but brought other gifts. ARMING FOR BATTLE. Skinning the Los Angeles Galaxy for defensive midfielder Chris Armas was the Fire’s earliest masterstroke. Bradley grabbed with his first two picks in the expansion draft goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (didn’t want to leave L.A.; L.A. didn’t want to lose him) and midfielder Danny Pena (said he’d quit before he’d leave L.A.). Bradley wanted Armas, already emerging as American soccer’s finest defensive midfielder, to accompany Nowak in the center of midfield. There was talk of a pre-draft arrangement, but the Galaxy found it would have to surrender Armas (and unwanted Jorge Campos) to retrieve Pena and Hartman. “To be fair,” said Bradley, who had coached Armas when he was younger, “Kevin has shown since then he’s obviously a very good goalie, and I think Danny’s value in L.A. has come through every season as well.” Armas, meantime, has since redefined the defensive midfield role in this country, becoming a pivotal figure for the U.S. national team. He deserves much credit for the Fire’s MLS Cup ’98 title win, in which he smothered D.C. United playmaker Marco Etcheverry. THREE TROPHIES. The Fire’s first trophy run started in earnest with an 11-game win streak — fueled by five or more goals by Nowak, Podbrozny, Kosecki and Ante Razov — and concluded with 12 victories in the final 14 games, including a perfect postseason. Playoff success wasn’t simple. Two 1-0 and two 2-1 shootout victories finished off Colorado and L.A. The final was far more comfortable: a 2-0 win, on tallies by Podbrozny and Diego Gutierrez (with his first MLS goal). Chicago’s other triumphs, for winning the 1998 and 2000 U.S. Open Cups, were nearly as difficult. The Fire needed a golden goal to top Columbus in the ’98 final and another to get into the 2000 final, where Hristo Stoitchkov delivered victory over Miami. There might have been four titles if not for Tony Meola’s heroics for Kansas City at MLS Cup 2000. THE GREATEST SERIES. Two stand out. First that tense ’98 Western Conference final against Los Angeles, captured on Jesse Marsch’s 86th-minute rebound in Pasadena and a superior shootout performance at Soldier Field. Even better was the first-round encounter with Dallas in ’99. The Fire was beaten in Dallas in the opener, 2-1, then romped at Soldier Field to a 4-0 triumph — a victory marred when Dema Kovalenko broke Burn defender Brandon Pollard’s leg — to even the series. In the decisive game, Ante Razov and Marsch had the Fire ahead, 2-0, after five minutes. But Razov limped off after 15 minutes, leaving Chicago with an ailing Kosecki (and then, from the 65th minute, John Ball) and Paul Daugherty up front the rest of the way. The second half was all Burn, with Chad Deering pulling one back in the 54th minute and goals in the 84th (Jorge Rodriguez PK after a C.J. Brown hand-ball call) and 86th (Ariel Graziani off a scramble) minutes send Dallas to the conference finals. HOMETOWN BOY. Frank Klopas, Greek-born but Chicago-raised, was one of two NASL players to make it to MLS (Klopas was on Chicago’s roster in 1984 but didn’t see action until the Sting headed indoors). He scored two goals twice in the Fire’s first six games, but his greatest contribution was the 99th-minute strike that gave the Fire its ’98 U.S. Open Cup title. He retired before the 2000 season and became the team’s strength and conditioning coach. ANTE UP. Razov, a Galaxy castoff who had been searching Europe for a job, provided the final piece of Bradley’s attacking puzzle. A natural forward, he teamed well with Kosecki up front, with Podbrozny making runs from midfield and Nowak running the show. “What we ended up with,” Bradley said, “was a situation in which Ante and Roman settled in as forwards, where Roman had the freedom to go from side to side. The combination of Chris, Jerry and Peter [in central midfield] worked out very well. Teams tried to concentrate on Peter, so Peter would [shift to] the left side and Jerry would playmake. They all worked hard for each other. When Peter had the ball, Jerry was very good at — as Ante moved wide — running out of midfield and into attack.” Bradley had worked with Razov during preparations for the Atlanta Olympics, and he liked what he saw. “Certainly in ’96 you could see he had talent,” the coach said, “and you also could see he had a lot of growing up to do.” As he’s matured, Razov — Chicago’s top scorer in all three seasons, now with Spanish Second Division stragglers Racing de Ferrol — has become increasingly important to the U.S. national team. YOUNG GUNS. Injuries to Stoitchkov, Kubik and Armas, World Cup qualifying and the Sydney Olympics tested Fire depth in 2000. Big seasons from its youngsters made the difference for in the regular season for Chicago, and Stoitchkov — finally at top form — took charge after that. When Kubik got hurt, Andrew Lewis stepped into his shoes. When Lewis went down, A-League call-up Tenwya Bonseu took over. Evan Whitfield pitched in with seven assists in 25 appearances. DaMarcus Beasley made an impact on the wing. Dema Kovalenko played a role in 20 goals, including postseason and Open Cup. Carlos Bocanegra, the left back, was MLS’s rookie of the year. And Josh Wolff, the best of the Americans in Australia, overcame ailment to score seven MLS goals and six more in the Open Cup, including four in a 5-1 rout of Dallas and the 112th-minute semifinal winner against L.A. 1-0. It was telling that three of the Fire’s first five MLS games finished 1-0 (all losses, all in succession). It’s occurred 17 times since, and that’s not counting a 1-0 shootout loss to Dallas in ’99. No surprise, surely, to Fire critics, who in ’98 accused Bradley of utilizing heavily defensive tactics and relying on players lacking flair. Bradley saw little substance to the argument. “I think we were a good all-around team, good with the ball, a good passing team … a good defensive team,” he said. “Around the league we were known as a good team.” The Fire is 10-10, by the way, in 1-0 games, with Kubik scoring the lone goal five times (three of them penalty kicks; Razov PKs won two more). Included: two playoff games in ’98, the MLS Cup 2000 final, and five showdowns with L.A., three of those in ’99. THE RAD BULGARIAN. Hristo Stoitchkov arrived in Chicago last year with far less fanfare than did Lothar Matthaeus in New York, but his was a vastly better fit. Even before he found his footing at the end of the season, Stoitchkov made his capabilities obvious. He was as important off the field as he was on. “We’d done a lot of homework and realized he was a real strong personality — in a positive way — but he hadn’t played in a year,” Bradley said. “He came in so motivated, but it was too much too soon and he ran into [groin] injury problems. It took all season for him to get healthy and fit to play his best, but everybody saw his best efforts at the end. “Even in August, when we played L.A., he started and played 60 minutes — he was only up to 60 minutes at that point. He hit stride in September and October — to see him at the end of the year, he felt he was back at Barcelona. He felt that good physically. “And he was a tremendous addition in terms of personality, the way he was with young players. Hristo was everything we’d hoped.” (Scott French is a senior editor at Soccer America.)