Wizards Look to Extend Lead in West 31/08/04
The Kansas City Wizards will face two Eastern Conference opponents this week, first traveling to Chicago for a midweek matchup against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, September 1st. Wednesday's match will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CT from Soldier Field in Chicago.
Wednesday's match against the Fire will be a preview of the 2004 U.S. Open Cup Final as the same sides will square off at Arrowhead Stadium on September 22nd in the Championship game of the U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff for the Open Cup Final is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.
Kansas City heads to Chicago still looking for their first ever win in the "Windy City". In eight previous meetings at Chicago since 1998, the Wizards are 0-8-0 and have been outscored 22-5. Wednesday's match will mark the third and final meeting of the season, with the two sides tying the previous two meetings this season (0-0 in KC on April 3rd and 2-2 in KC on May 8th).
Chicago (5-10-8, 23 points) will look to climb out of the Eastern Conference cellar on Wednesday. Trailing the New England Revolution (24 points) by one point in the standings, the Fire will try to grab a hold of a playoff spot with just seven games remaining on their regular season slate. Kansas City will try to distance themselves from the Los Angeles Galaxy for the lead in the Western Conference and the best overall record in MLS. Currently the Wizards are tied with the Galaxy with 35 points, but hold the tiebreaker on head-to-head games.
Kansas City will be without the services of midfielder Kerry Zavagnin, who will be in camp with the U.S. National Team for two upcoming World Cup Qualifying games - Sept. 4th vs. El Salvador and Sept. 8th at Panama.
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