After holding Nacional of Uruguay to a 0–0 tie and defeating Italian Seria A side Napoli 3–1 they lifted the trophy with a 4–3 victory against the New York Cosmos in front of 36,904 at Giants Stadium, New Jersey. But after winning the prestigious trophy it was back to NASL action and another defeat in a 3–0 reverse at the Seattle Sounders. Defensive mistakes, poor officiating and continuing injury problems dogged the remainder of the season although the Chicagoans did manage a run of three straight wins to briefly keep alive hopes of making the playoffs. The Edmonton Drillers were beaten 3–2 at the start of July, followed by the Fort Launderdale Strikers 3–0 and a 2–1 shootout victory against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Those slim hopes finally came to end with a 3–1 loss at the New York Cosmos, followed, ironically, by two excellent performances that saw the Sting defeat the Toronto Blizzard 3–1 and the Montreal Manic 2–1, both at Comiskey Park, to close out the season, leaving the Sting with the worst win–loss record (13–19) in its history. Sting debut in MISL 1982–83 (Indoor): In the fall of 1982 agreement was reached between the NASL and the MISL to allow three franchises – the San Diego Sockers, the San Jose Earthquakes and the Chicago Sting – to join the MISL for the upcoming 1982–83 indoor season. With a regular season stretching from November to mid-April and comprising 48 games per team (compared to just 18 games in the NASL Indoor League the previous season) the Chicagoans had effectively signed up to play two full seasons a year, of two very different types of soccer. Even so, the Sting, who were assigned to the Eastern Division, acquitted themselves well taking place in a three-way race for the division title, with the veteran Cleveland Force and the Baltimore Blast, eventually finishing third, two games behind the Blast in first place, and one behind the Force in second place, with a 28–20 record. In the first round of the playoffs experience was a telling factor at Cleveland eased into the next round winning the best-of-three series 5–9, 5–4 and 7–5. Financial problems mount for NASL 1983 (Outdoor): An ongoing salary war between the NASL and the Major Indoor Soccer League was continuing to cause financial problems across the two leagues, and losses continued to pile up as the 1983 outdoor