Chicago Fire Selects Four Players in 2009 MLS Superdraft
January 15, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
ST. LOUIS, MO. (Jan. 15, 2009) - The Chicago Fire selected four players today during the 2009 MLS SuperDraft held at the St. Louis Convention Center: America Center Ballroom in St. Louis, Mo.
The Fire traded the rights to goalkeeper Matt Pickens and their second round pick (28th overall) in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft to the Colorado for the Rapids' 20th overall pick and allocation money.
With their first pick (2nd round, 20th overall), the Fire selected midfielder/forward and Generation adidas player Baggio Husidic of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Husidic, a Libertyville, Ill. native, was named as a 2008 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division I First Team All-American, was a Soccer America MVP First Team player and a College Soccer News All-America Second Team selection, after scoring nine goals and six assists as a junior in 2008. In addition, Husidic was named to the 2008 NSCAA/adidas All-Great Lakes Region First Team, as well as being named to the All-Horizon League First Team, earning the Horizon League Player of the Year and Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year.
"There is no better place for me to begin my professional career," said Fire draftee Baggio Husidic. "Having the opportunity to play for the Fire in front of my friends and family is a dream come true."
"Baggio is a player that we know very well because he has played with UIC," said Fire head coach Denis Hamlett. "He is a good soccer player and fits a role in our team. The fact that he is a Generation adidas player is a plus but our goal is to bring in good soccer players that can make our team become better and I think we accomplished that with Baggio."
The Fire selected University of California-Irvine defender David Sias with their second pick (3rd round, 43rd overall). The six-foot, one-inch defender was named to the All-Big West Second Team in his junior season of 2007 at UC-Irvine for his 18 matches started. Sias also recorded one assist in 18 games played during his sophomore season after appearing in 16 matches as a freshman.
The Fire acquired two players in the fourth round, midfielder Jokull Elisabetarson from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (4th round, 52nd overall) and Richard Jata (4th round, 58th overall) from Cambell University. Elisabetarson, who holds Icelandic citizenship, was named as to the First Team All-Souther Conference in 2008 and has been named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team in all four of his collegiate seasons. Jata was named to the NSCAA All-South First Team in 2008 and was a NCCSIA All-State Team honoree in 2006 and 2007 after transferring to Cambell from Furman University.
"Our staff feels very positive about today's draft," said Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas. "We went through an evaluation process and had a lot of information on the players going in. We were a little bit limited with the picks that we had but we were able to make a move to get a player [Baggio Husidic] with tremendous upside and potential and in addition the allocation money will help us strengthen other areas of our team. We also acquired three other quality players which will help us add competition going into camp."
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