Chicago Fire vs. AC Milan Prediction

Chicago Fire vs. AC Milan
Wednesday @ 9pm EST

You have got to love it when the big European teams come to America to play MLS clubs. Yes, the Europeans will clobber the MLS teams most of the time, but even in those beatings, US soccer is winning. The amount of news coverage and excitement around a game like this makes the outcome not so important. That is, unless the MLS team pulls off the impossible and humbles the giant. Is this outcome likely to happen in this match, no, but everyone knows that so no one will be shocked when the Fire burn out.

That said, Chicago have a great record against international clubs (10-5-1), but none of these clubs match the strength of Milan. There is some very good news for the men in red, their Captain Chirs Armas and three other players are back from their time at the Gold Cup, so they will be fielding their best lineup. Also, they have been on a great run, going seven unbeaten matches before this past weekend's defeat in Colorado, which can be excused by saying they were looking forward to tonight's game.

As for Milan, well you don't win six European Championships by luck. Chicago is a good team (especially of late), but they are not at the level of tonight's opponent.

Look for some early goals by Milan followed by some pure fun soccer.

Chicago 1 - Milan 3

By the way, there have been a few good quotes ahead of this match. First some praise for US soccer from Milan's defender Alessandro Costacurta (who trained with the MetroStars in 2002):

"When I trained with the MetroStars, I saw the level of play in this country firsthand. I saw all of the kids playing in the park. I now see the FIFA World Rankings and know that the United States is ranked sixth, many places ahead of Italy, so United States soccer has arrived."

Now some fun from Milan's boss Carlo Ancelotti. When told that Chicago had enjoyed an excellent exhibition involving Real Madrid and Chivas de Guadalajara a few weeks ago, he responded:

"If Real Madrid came here and put on a good show, we want to put on a better show. We want to show our soccer to the people."