CHICAGO (March 26, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC II opened its 2023 MLS NEXT Pro campaign with a 3-1 road win over Inter Miami CF II. Goals by Matteo Kidd and Alex Monis bookended a score by Billy Hency in his professional debut for the Fire, while Edison Azcona got the lone tally for Miami. Chicago comes away from South Florida with three points prior to its home opener Friday at SeatGeek Stadium.
Following the match, Chicago Fire FC II Head Coach Ludovic Taillandier, midfielder Luka Prpa and forward Billy Hency shared their thoughts about what occurred in the opening 90 minutes of the season.
Chicago Fire FC II Head Coach Ludovic Taillandier
On the preparation before an opening win…
“If we speak about the mental side of things, we can be very proud of the commitment of the guys. Again, the guys coming from the first team have a great mentality. I asked them before the game to be good, but not just good, to be good examples for the younger players. They delivered that; it was fantastic for us to have those players from the first team with us today.
The mental side of things showed that we were ready. Of course, a reserve team is never completely ready, in the sense that we often have players not training together and we are not always the most ready team. But we communicated, we found a way to deliver something that made sense and we were together from the first minute to the last. We are very proud of the guys.”
On how well new players meshed with the team…
“Again, if I speak about the mental side of things, it was good, the mentality was great. Everybody was committed to play on the front foot and to try to gain as much control as possible of the game, with a full commitment on the physical side. We had that and were able to have some subs come in from the bench and they also did very, very well to help us keep control of the game and score more, even at the end of the game.”
On the performance of Billy Hency…
“We spoke a lot with Billy, especially on the style of play that we’re trying to achieve. There is always a little bit of a transition for a player coming in, but he’s definitely adapting very well.”
Chicago Fire FC II Midfielder Luka Prpa
On meshing quickly with a new team…
“I think it all comes from the team culture. We’re very close, we do a lot of things together every day in training. Different games, different scenarios that we just work hard [on], everyone on the same page and we all work for each other, so it’s really easy with this team.”
On the performance of the younger players…
“They were amazing. From the old guys to the young guys, everybody put their best effort and that’s all you can ask. Everyone at the end of the game was dead tired and that’s how it should be – everybody working hard for each other. At the end of the day, the results will come if we have that.”
On his assist to Billy Hency…
“It was kind of a loose ball, I got in the end of it. I saw him making a nice run, I played it to him and he did the rest, nice finish. Billy works hard every day on his finishing, on his runs, everything. It was perfect today and it’s nice to see it all come together.”
Chicago Fire FC Forward Billy Hency
On his first goal as a professional…
“Yeah, good play with the team. Long ball, tried to chest it down to Luka and (he) did a little something, slipped me through and yeah, it feels good to do it at this level, especially on my debut. I just want to thank my family and my teammates for getting me here.”
On the assistance of veteran players…
“I think just looking up to a bunch of the guys between this team and even when I was with the first team, just a lot of guys really setting the standard and really showing me the way to get to where they are.”
