It’s now or never for the Chicago Fire as they enter the final nine matches of their 2024 Major League Soccer regular season.
The club will exclusively go against Eastern Conference foes over this final stretch as they look to climb in the playoff positions to secure their first postseason berth since 2017.
Hugo Cuypers joined the Fire in the offseason as a club-record signing and is ready to get back on the pitch after sitting out Leagues Cup, a decision that was made back when he initially signed with Chicago.
He’s now back and ready to try to make the most of the final nine matches and hopefully extend the Fire’s season past October 19.
“I needed this little time off,” said Cuypers during the Fire’s weekly media availability. “A couple weeks that I approached as a small preseason because I think we cannot forget that I had been going since June of 2023, so it's been more than 14 months already.
“Now, I feel recharged. I feel good in training. I feel more energized, and I hope I can take that energy into the games coming up, and like you said, nine games to go. We approach them as nine finals. But there is no need to look too far ahead and just stay game-by-game and see where we're at after every game.”
Cuypers is on the precipice of becoming the first Fire player to record double-digit goals in MLS since Robert Beric had 12 in 2020. Despite the time off, the Belgian striker feels confident that he can quickly build on his nine goals in 2024 once the season officially restarts on Saturday.
“The scoring mentality is not something that's going to leave me by taking a couple days off. It's been a month since I've played, but it's not one month off, it's one month training with the team, sharpening everything in training and getting the reps in.
“It's a different kind of rest than when you're playing every three days or week in and week out. But I feel energized and ready to go on Saturday.”
While Cuypers believes that both he and the team have underperformed this year, the upcoming nine-match stretch presents the opportunity to play at the level he expects from himself and the Fire as a whole.
“On the field, like I said, I expected more from myself. The team expected more from us.
“But again, like I said, we have been underperforming a little bit, but it's still in our hands. We were conscious of that. The work has been done these last couple weeks to start the best we can this weekend against New York.”
What’s On Tap Next?
The Fire will be at NYCFC on August 24. The match kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast for free on Apple TV.
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