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MLS Chicago Fire FC

Fire win U.S. Open Cup

by Steve De Rose
October 2, 2006 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC


The Chicago Fire won the 2006 Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup tournament. They defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy by 3-1 on Wednesday, September 27 at Frank "Sarge" Kracher Stadium in Bridgeview, I

The Galaxy became another side that failed to retain its Open Cup Championship in the Final, joining the 2004 Fire as the most recent example. The 1982 and 1983 New York Pancyprian-Freedoms remain the last side to have accomplished this.

The Fire came out with some momentum. In the 5th minute, a ball into space for Andy Herron saw Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman have to challenge for it. He cleared away temporarily, but the Fire had an opportunity at the semi-vacant net.

Chicago scored in the tenth minute. On a free kick from near the left touchline, C. J. Brown flicked a header for Herron, who fired a shot that was deflected by a Los Angeles defender in the goal box. It snaked along the line to where Nate Jaqua touched it in at the right post.

It went to two-nil in minute 16. Justin Mapp collected a ball on the right wing, pivoted 270 degrees clockwise and crossed to a point where Herron got his head to it. He directed that header low and to the left post, beating a surprised Hartman.

The Galaxy doubled their efforts. Their first substantive salvo was on a free kick in the 22nd minute from 24 yards out in the center. Landon Donovan chipped the ball over the wall for an advancing Chris Albright. But he looped the ball over the bar from the edge of the six-yard box on the left.

Chicago nearly made it three-nil in the 35th minute. Two Los Angeles defenders, anticipating Chris Rolfe playing a wall pass with Ivan Guerrero, peel away from him in the penalty box on the right wing. Rolfe took two steps toward goal and then essayed a shot that missed the left post by two yards.

For Los Angeles, Donovan had a good game, despite being lustily booed by many of the spectators. Section 8 in the Harlem End went as far as taunting him with a "World Cup Germany" chant.

For the second half, Los Angeles came out with the verve they should have had at the beginning of the match.
They contested Chicago's kickoff, which led to them getting an offensive zone throw-in mere seconds in.

But again it was Chicago who nearly scored the third goal. Guerrero got a step on his marker near the edge of the penalty box on the left wing. He fired a low shot to which Hartman got his right arm on, but it nearly went in at the left post.

Los Angeles came back down the field and seriously contended. Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens was called on to make his first valid save of the match on a header by Santino Quaranta. You may read elsewhere about a Galaxy foray in the first half which was flicked over the bar by him, but the play was nullified for offside.

The resultant corner kick was taken quickly, and it caught Fire players completely out of mind. Alan Gordon had his first header saved, but the rebound came back to him at the edge of the six-yard box, and he kicked it home while Fire players looked askew.

Then, when Paulo Nagamura tried to retrieve the ball from the net, Pickens would not let him have it. This happens way too much for my liking, but I am unsure what can be done to resolve it. After the scuffle, both players were shown the yellow card.

Chicago defenders had another spell in which they lost track of their areas. Los Angeles players were getting to spots in their offensive half, and in the penalty box itself, where they had an opportunity to get to a pass which afforded them a shot on goal. But they could not shoot accurately, or did not seriously test Pickens when they did.

Quaranta had a mondo moment in the 71st minute. After being called for a foul near the midfield stripe, he opted to vent his wrath by picking up the ball, turning away from our referee, and heading it toward the center of the pitch. He was shown the yellow card.

Substitutions began. The Galaxy made typical offensive insertions, and the Fire sent on Dasan Robinson for Herron.
In minute 86, however, Thiago came on for Mapp. This was to prove effective.

The Fire scored the third and clinching goal two minutes thereafter. A ball from Rolfe in defensive midfield found an overlapping Tony Sanneh (who may have been offside) making the run down the left wing touchline. Sanneh came toward the goal on the breakaway. He slowed down and then laid off the killer pass into space at the right post for Thiago to run onto and sink from two yards out.


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Chicago Fire v. Los Angeles Galaxy
Date: 27 September 2006
Competition: 2006 Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup - Final Match
City: Bridgeview, IL
Kickoff: 7:00 pm CT
Attendance: 8,151
Weather: 59 degrees, cloudy

Scoring Summary:


1 2 F
Chicago 2 1 3
Los Angeles 0 1 1

CHI - Nate Jaqua (Andy Herron) 10'
CHI - Andy Herron (Justin Mapp) 16'
LOS - Alan Gordon (unassisted) 52'
CHI - Thiago (Tony Sanneh) 88'

Lineups:
Chicago (adidas: Red | Red | Red): 18-Matt Pickens, 2-C.J. Brown, 20-Tony Sanneh, 25-Gonzalo Segares, 8-Diego Gutierrez, 12-Logan Pause, 21-Justin Mapp (10-Thiago, 86'), 23-Ivan Guerrero, 11-Nate Jaqua, 17-Chris Rolfe (Jim Curtin, 91'+), 26-Andy Herron (32-Dasan Robinson, 82')
Head Coach: Dave Sarachan

Los Angeles (adidas: Gold | Green | Gold).: 22-Kevin Hartman, 4-Ante Jazic, 5-Chris Albright, 14-Tyrone Marshall, 15-Ugo Ihemelu (7-Herculez Gomez, 77'), 8-Peter Vagenas, 13-Cobi Jones (23-Quavas Kirk, 72'), 17-Paulo Nagamura, 10-Landon Donovan, 21-Alan Gordon, 25-Santino Quaranta (6-Josh Gardner, 88')
Head Coach: Frank Yallop

Stats Summary:
CHI/LOS
Shots: 13/14
Saves: 2/3
Corner Kicks: 2/6
Offside: 1/1

Misconduct Summary:
LOS - Chris Albright (caution) 25'
CHI - Matt Pickens (caution) 52'
LOS - Paulo Nagamura (caution) 52'
CHI - Diego Gutierrez (caution) 59'
LOS - Santino Quaranta (caution) 71'
LOS - Alan Gordon (caution) 75'
CHI - Diego Gutierrez (caution) 90'
CHI - Diego Gutierrez (ejection) 90'

Officials: Referee: Terry Vaughn
1st Asst.: Chris Strickland
2nd Asst.: Richard Eddy
Fourth Official: Michael Kennedy
Man of the Match: Tony Sanneh

With this victory, the Fire qualify for the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament. The onus now shifts to Chicago Fire General Manager John Guppy, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, and U. S. Soccer's Sunil Gulati to cause CONCACAF to move the dates of the tournament from February, a time when MLS teams are out of season, to May or September. The Asian and African qualifiers for this December's F.I.F.A. Club World Cup Japan (which yours truly shall again cover) are still undetermined. The only plausible reason for why the CONCACAF qualifiers take place in February is that CONCACAF wants a Mexican club to earn its place.

I thank Mr. John Koluder of the Chicago Fire for his assistance in my coverage of the U. S. Open Cup tournament.
Check out the Chicago Fire FC Statistics

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