It sounded like a great idea.
MLS scoring star Hugo Cuypers paired up with international scoring machine Robert Lewandowski figured to make an already strong Chicago Fire team a legitimate MLS championship contender.
On July 15, Chicago Fire coach Gregg Berhalter was excited about the prospect.
“We don’t see any reason why that can’t continue with Hugo and Robert on the field together,” he said. “It could be a great combination.”
Nearly a month later, the Fire are in a three-game Leagues Cup stretch at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview and that scenario will not play out.
Cuypers requested — and was granted — a transfer to Monterrey.
The Fire went 1-2 in the first three MLS games that they played since the 37-year-old Lewandowski arrived including a 2-1 win over Charlotte on Aug. 1 at Soldier Field in which he scored both goals.
The team is 2-0 in Leagues Cup play after a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Santos Laguna on Aug. 9 and a 2-0 win over Club Necaxa on Aug. 6.
Philip Zinckernagel scored in the the 70th minute to tie the Santos game and Anton Saletros scored the go-ahead goal in the 89th minute. Lewandowski capped it off with a third in stoppage time in front of a SeatGeek Stadium crowd of 14,341.
The Fire battle Cruz Azul at 8 p.m. Aug. 13 in Bridgeview for a shot to make it to the knockout round.
Meanwhile, the departure of the 29-year-old Cuypers will be felt.
In two-and-a-half seasons, he scored 44 goals, which is fourth on the Fire’s all-time list. He led the MLS with 13 goals before his transfer to Monterrey in the Liga MX.
In an interview with Leagues Cup television, Cuypers was direct about wanting to leave Chicago.
“Everyone knew the situation in Chicago with Robert arriving,” he said. “There was a scenario where everything was working out well and we could have played together.
“But there was also a scenario where he would have been the main guy in the short or medium term. I didn’t want to take that risk. I wasn’t going to move just to move and when Monterrey came, it was the right fit.”
He scored a goal in his Monterrey debut on Aug. 5 in a 2-1 Leagues Cup loss to host Orlando City and added another in a 2-1 win over Miami on Aug. 8.
Meanwhile, the Fire will adapt the offense with the loss of Cuypers.
“We were excited about running a 4-4-2 offense,” Berhalter said. “But in reality, if we are able to strengthen in other areas, we can perhaps come out on the better end of this.”
The victory over Necaxa drew 9,005 fans. It was the first time in 16 years that the Fire beat a Mexican opponent, thanks to goals by defenders Jonathan Dean and Andrew Gutman. Goalie Chris Brady had six saves in the shutout.
Before the game, the Fire announced that 20-year-old MLS All-Star defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi is going to be out the rest of the season with a thigh injury suffered in training.
Robert Turdean, 16, made his Fire debut against Santos and played the first half. At 16 years and 207 days, he is the youngest player in Fire history.