Fire Still a Test for Galaxy

No Major League Soccer team was hit harder by call-ups for the World Cup than the Chicago Fire, which will make do without three starters for the next month.

So how did the Fire react, playing for the first time without forward Josh Wolff and midfielders DaMarcus Beasley and Chris Armas, who were in training camp with the U.S. national team in Cary, N.C.?

Chicago routed D.C. United, the three-time MLS Cup champion, 3-0, last Saturday. Not exactly a good sign for the Galaxy, which meets the Fire today in Naperville, Ill., in the second match of a franchise-record five-game trip.

“I think the two deepest teams in the league are ourselves and Chicago,” said Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid, whose team will be missing midfielder Cobi Jones for as long as the U.S. plays in the World Cup. “You’re going to miss some prominent players, but you’re replacing those guys with [the likes of] Kelly Gray and ... Gavin Glinton. You’re getting some young, talented guys on the field who are getting valuable minutes for their development.”

Chicago has already had its fill of Galaxy rookie forward Carlos Ruiz, who scored twice against the Fire in Los Angeles’ 2-1 overtime victory April 6 at the Rose Bowl.

Yet, including the Galaxy’s 2-1 exhibition victory over CSD Municipal of Guatemala on Wednesday, Ruiz hasn’t scored in three games. He’ll try to end that streak on the unpredictable artificial SafePlay turf of North Central College’s Cardinal Stadium, the Fire’s temporary home while Soldier Field undergoes renovations.

GALAXY TODAY

at Chicago, 1 p.m. PDT, ESPN2

Site--Cardinal Stadium.

Radio--KSPN (1110), KTNQ (1020, Spanish).

Records--Galaxy 3-1-2, Fire 3-2-1.

Record vs. Fire--1-0-0.

Update--Six of the past nine meetings between the teams have gone into overtime.