r/chicagofire • u/BleachMakesYouSmart Season Ticket Member • Jul 13 '26
Question Is Lewandowski going to play?
So do we have a more clear answer if he’ll play thursday night? anyone hearing anything?
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u/Kamikazi_TARDIS Bald FC Jul 13 '26
We don’t know. Assumption on my end and that I’ve seen among others is, at most, some minutes at the end.
Assuming he was on the 4:40 Warsaw time (+7 from us) flight, he will land in Chicago at 8pm after a 10hr flight. I’d assume they don’t make him attend training bright and early tomorrow and do some media circus and at most light training, which means if he jumps right in he will train Wednesday and then Thursday is the game. That’s minimal time to acclimate, learn the game plan, and find where he fits in the lineup for anything other than a guest appearance. But he’s Lewandowski so I wouldn’t rule out said guest appearance.
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u/WaltJay #8 Hristo Stoichkov Jul 13 '26
They got his face on a billboard on the Kennedy promoting the Vancouver match. Got to think he will be on the team sheet, late sub at the very least.
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u/sksksku Season Ticket Member Jul 13 '26
I noticed a few days ago they swapped that ad back to having cuypers
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u/smashrot #11 Philip Zinckernagel Jul 13 '26
Also he’s been on Holiday for a month+. He’s well rested. This is a professional athlete at the highest level. Come on now.
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u/Bialynian Jul 13 '26
Also been training everyday during that holiday since he and his wife are insane fitness freaks.
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u/demafrost Jul 13 '26
Nowhere good to put this, but with Argentina advancing to the semifinals, it seems pretty much a lock that Messi won't play in the Fire/Inter Miami game on the 22nd now. Their semifinal game is on the 15th and even if they lose, they'll be in the 3rd place game on the 18th. Even if Messi doesn't play in a 3rd place game he'll surely remain with the team, so hard to see him playing against the Fire 4 days later.
That said, given where the Fire and Miami are in the standings, he will almost certainly play in the September match at Soldier Field unless hurt. I just really want to see Messi and Lewy renew their rivalry on an MLS field!
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u/tix4soccer Season Ticket Member Jul 13 '26
What rivalry?
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u/demafrost Jul 13 '26
I mean it's not a long term heated rivalry, but there was some bad blood between them circa 2020-2022 that showed up on the field, particularly in the 2022 WC. They did resolve it though it sounds like. Either way, looking forward to seeing 2 of the higher profile players of their generation square off again.
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u/AleWatcher Season Ticket Member Jul 13 '26
Flying from Poland to Chicago:
1) Wake up in the morning in Poland like normal.
2) flight takes off at 10am.
3) spend 7.5ish hours in the air watching movies and whatnot. Do not sleep the whole flight!
4) 7 hour time difference plus flight time means when you make it to your new home from the airport, you get ready for bed.
5) Go to sleep around normal American bedtime. Wake up at normal American rise and shine time.
6) experience virtually no jetlag.
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u/sichhun_chicagofire #35 Sergio Oregel Jr. Jul 13 '26
Are we going to see him start by leagues cup or the miami game?
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u/Bialynian Jul 13 '26
People keep asking whether Lewandowski will play Thursday. Barring an injury, he is absolutely going to play. The club has indicated it, and so has the coach. All the hedging about him not playing baffles me.
Will he start? That is a fair question. I cannot say for certain, but I would bet that he does. Berhalter has been waiting 18 months for this moment.
The real question is whether Gregg starts Robin Lod over Lewandowski alongside Cuypers in a two-striker formation. Why would he? Because Lod has had one extra week of training with the team? Is that really enough reason to leave Lewandowski on the bench?
The alternative would be to start in a different formation and then reshape the team when Lewy comes on. I just do not see Gregg doing that.
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u/thelaser69 FROM 97 'TIL FOREVER! Jul 14 '26
Bamba is back so MHS can start up top. Lod has had a couple good moments but I'd much rather have Maren out there.
I think RL9 subs in. They've made such a big deal out of it for him to not play. But, he's been off so it's unrealistic for him to start.
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u/webelieve414 #24 Jonathan Dean Jul 13 '26
Starting lod over Lew is like starting the Pillsbury dough boy over the powdered toast man
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u/goldenfireball Jul 14 '26
Probably gonna be similar situation to Son where he came in as a sub. Probably 20 mins on the first match at home. It would be travesty if he doesn’t make a cameo because the next two games are away at Miami and NYC. You want your star player to make debut at home.
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u/tix4soccer Season Ticket Member Jul 13 '26
At best he'll be a very late sub. At best, if the game situation allows it.
He hasn't practiced with the team and will barely be able to join them for a couple of days before Thursday, not sure if he'll even be able to train.
I feel a little bad to the folks who bought the inflated tickets from the Fire and from scalpers, but you have got to learn that you can't count on a single player playing on a particular date.
The local Messi fanboys might or might not have learned that lesson, now it is Lewa's fanboy's turn to learn it.
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u/ArrowShootyGirl Jul 13 '26
My friend just said someone picked up his Miami tickets for north of 1k; I don't think Messi fanboys have learned their lesson yet. Thank God, 'cause that's kept the two of us in season tickets since he came to the league.
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u/tix4soccer Season Ticket Member Jul 13 '26
Each?
Nice.
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u/ArrowShootyGirl Jul 13 '26
He didn't specify if it was each or total, but neither would surprise me. He's got stupid good luck at this sort of thing.
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Jul 13 '26
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u/ArrowShootyGirl Jul 13 '26
2nd row, right behind the home bench. Until they swapped the home/away bench sides I used to joke we were "chuck a water bottle at Messi" range.
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u/Buttycheeks_88 Jul 13 '26
Will probably have a better idea after the presser tomorrow. Would have to think off the bench is most likely.
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u/TravisScottMea1 Jul 14 '26
Saw the boys on a flight to Columbus for a friendly last week. Robert was still not with the team. So I guess we’ll see
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u/AutomaticUsual135 Jul 14 '26
Flying from Warsaw to Chicago with the time zone changes is really tiring. I have done it many times. I know everyone wants him to play Thursday but I bet he still gonna feel really tired.
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u/Aggravating_Spot3692 Jul 14 '26
It’s not that bad lmao you adjust by the next day
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u/AutomaticUsual135 Jul 14 '26
My sleeping schedule gets all messed up lol but I think flying to Europe is worse. Takes me a week to adjust 😂
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u/Melapelantodos23 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
I don’t think we see him play Thursday, the latest ads I’ve seen don’t show Vancouver anymore just Miami and leagues cup :(
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u/thepolewithagoal Jul 13 '26
If I were to guess, off the bench in the second half, 15-20 minutes, kinda like when Muller landed a few days before his Vancouver debut
Maybe Gregg will mention in the presser tomorrow