Robert Lewandowski prepares for Chicago Fire debut | OneFootball

By Cal Meachem

Last Thursday, Chicago Fire FC fans waited excitedly as they prepared for legendary Polish striker Robert Lewandowski to make his club debut.

A superstar matchup against former Bayern Munich teammate Thomas Müller and Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps FC was on the cards. But the match was postponed due to poor air quality from the Canadian wildfires, meaning Lewandowski's debut would have to wait.

The big moment is finally here, though, and the stakes are just as high when the Fire visit fellow Eastern Conference contenders Inter Miami CF on Wednesday (7:30 pm ET | Apple TV).

Match Trailer | Robert Lewandowski set for Chicago Fire debut

Legendary Lewandowski

After an illustrious European career that included stops at Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona, Lewandowski chose Chicago as the next step in his remarkable career.

One of the greatest strikers of his generation, Lewandowski will now lead the line for the Fire. He'll don the No. 9 jersey as Chicago look to build on a strong first season under head coach Gregg Berhalter, which saw them return to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017.

And despite not yet taking the field for his new club, he's already setting the standard.

“One thing I can tell you about Robert is tremendous work rate," said Berhalter. "When you think about a guy coming into the team, who was jet-lagged all last week and he's pushing the guys in training, we are doing fitness stuff, he's pushing that and doing extra work after.

"You can see why he's been a pro and why he's scored more goals than anyone in Europe in the last 15 years because he's an absolute pro on the field. In the training sessions, he's been high quality, scoring goals and he looks like a great player.”

Cuypers moves on

Although a deal has not officially been agreed upon, Berhalter confirmed that striker Hugo Cuypers, who currently leads the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race with 13 goals, will be departing the club and heading to LIGA MX powerhouse CF Monterrey.

"Hugo came to us and expressed a desire to go elsewhere, and for us, it was finding good value in that deal," Berhalter confirmed. "We knew that there's a couple of things at play, and by the way, the deal is not finalized yet. It's still being completed, but we have an agreement in principle."

Berhalter added: "In terms of suitors for Hugo, Monterrey was the club that came to us, and was the only club that came to us. And we dealt with them. We talked to Hugo about his wishes, and that was the team he wanted to join and we made the deal happen."

Thankfully for Fire fans, with 629 career goals and 159 assists, to go along with dozens of trophies, it's tough to think of a better replacement for their Belgian No. 9 than Lewandowski.

"If you look at our team right now, it's the same except for Robert switching out for Hugo. And we've done fine up until then. You would think, based on that equation, we would be better," Berhalter said.

"But I don't think that's stopping us from wanting to get even better from there. We were happy to play with Hugo and Robert and see how that worked, and we are also happy to explore the other pathway."

Miami challenge

Lewandowski's debut will be an immediate test, as the Fire face off with reigning MLS Cup presented by Audi champions Inter Miami.

Even though Argentina superstars Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul will reportedly be missing following their World Cup final defeat to Spain on Sunday, Berhalter expects a challenging match all the same.

"I have a lot of respect for Inter Miami. They have a great squad," lauded Chicago's head coach. "They will most likely be missing a couple of players in Messi and Rodrigo De Paul, although you never know with Messi and De Paul.

“... They have great players, and they are champions for a reason because they have a good mindset, good mentality, they compete. For us, it's about how do we take advantage of some of their weaknesses, and that's what we're going to be looking to exploit.”

No matter the opponent, Lewandowski is expected to be relied upon heavily as the Chicago Fire, who sit third in the Eastern Conference, continue to push for silverware.

"We expect him to be the focal point of our attack," concluded Berhalter. "And we want to surround him with players that can help him be the most successful and help the team be the most successful."