MLS Chicago Fire FC

First Place Chicago Fire Clash With Rival Columbus Crew This Saturday

Published on July 6, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release


The Chicago Fire (6-3-6, 24 pts.) will line up against their Eastern Conference rival and the 2008 MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew (5-3-8, 23 pts.) on Saturday, July 11, at home in TOYOTA PARK (7 p.m. CT, ESPN2/Deportes). This Saturday's game will not only determine who takes the season series, but also which team will claim the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Fire are coming off a momentous 2-1 win over the Rapids on the road, bringing back a win and three points from Colorado for the first time since 1999. With the win, the Fire moved into a tie with D.C. United (5-3-9, 24 pts.) for first place in the Eastern Conference Standings. The Fire will be hungry for three points as the team can push past D.C. United (who have a bye week) with a win or a tie. Columbus will also be in the hunt for points as the Crew sit just one point behind the Fire and D.C. in the Eastern Conference standings and will be looking to pick up important points just past halfway through the season.

This Saturday's match is the second meeting of the two clubs in 2009. On April 25th, the Fire tied the Crew 2-2 on the road in their first meeting of season. The Crew took a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from defender Chad Marshall and forward Alejandro Moreno, but the Fire fought back and scored two goals in the final four minutes of the game with former Crew player and current Fire forward Brian McBride and defender Gonzalo Segares providing the fire power. Last season, the Fire tied the Crew 2-2 in both regular season meetings, but the Crew prevailed in the 2008 MLS Cup playoffs, defeating the Fire 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals and ending Chicago's MLS Cup run.

Despite their history of success over the Crew, the Fire and Crew have played to 2-2 ties in their last three regular season meetings. Of their last six regular season matches, the Fire and Crew have tied four times for a record of 2-0-4.

The Fire will have a hard task ahead of them Saturday as the Columbus Crew have dropped just one contest in their past 10 games this season falling 2-1 to Dallas on June 20, for a record of 5-1-4. The Fire, who went undefeated through the first 11 matches of the season have posted a 4-3-3 record their last 10 matches.

With an all-time regular season record of 17-10-11 against the Crew, the Fire have held onto the lead of the all-time match up, particularly in games played in Chicago where they own a 9-5-5 record. The Fire have not lost a game to the Crew since Oct. 7, 2006 when the team fell 4-1 in TOYOTA PARK, which has proven to be the Fire's only loss to the Crew in their last 10 match ups. The Fire will look to extend the six-game undefeated streak against Columbus on Saturday night.

MARCO PAPPA NOMINATED FOR GOAL OF THE WEEK FOR SECOND TIME

Marco Pappa has earned his second MLS Goal of the Week nomination after scoring his fifth goal of the season this past Saturday against the Colorado Rapids. Pappa's goal helped Chicago to end a 10-year winless streak against Colorado on the road. Brian McBride sent a chest pass from the middle of the box out to the left side of the area for midfielder Baggio Husidic, who slipped a pass to Pappa at the top of the box. Pappa sent a left-footed shot past Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens into the upper left corner of the net in the 30th minute for the Fire's first goal of the match. Fans can vote for Pappa's goal by clicking on this link: http://web.mlsnet.com/sights/goal_of_the_week/

FIRE ATTACK

The Fire are getting back to their offensive ways as the team scored two goals in Colorado last Saturday after recording just one goal in three matches through the three previous matches. The 30th minute goal from Marco Pappa, with assists credited to Baggio Husidic - his first-ever assist - and Brian McBride - his first assist of the season- has been nominated for the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Week. With 23 goals, the Fire have the third most goals scored in the league, behind just D.C. United (26 goals in 17 games) and the Seattle Sounders (24 goals in 16 games).

CHICAGO FIRE PLAYER NOTES:

- Midfielder Marco Pappa has scored in two consecutive matches for the Fire (on June 13 at D.C. United and July 4 at Colorado) and will look to extend that to three consecutive games, matching Brian McBride's three consecutive games with a goal back in April. The 2009 league record of consecutive games with a goal is currently held by Fredy Montero of Seattle for his active four game streak.

- Rookie midfielder Baggio Husidic earned his first start last Saturday against the Colorado Rapids and made the most of the opportunity as he recorded an assist on Marco Pappa's 30th minute goal. Husidic has appeared in four matches for the Fire in this rookie campaign.

- Midfielder Logan Pause is currently serving with the U.S. Men's National Team in Gold Cup competition. Pause earned his first "cap" last Saturday, with his start against Grenada at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington. Pause contributed an assist in the 4-0 effort by the USA, sending a long ball out of the back field to Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew) who knocked in the ball for the USA's third goal of the match. Pause and the USA return to action on Wednesday, July 8 against Honduras in Washington D.C. at RFK Stadium (8 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel, TeleFutura).

- Defender Gonzalo Segares is also serving with his national team in the Gold Cup, playing 90 minutes for Costa Rica in their 2-1 loss to El Salvador. Segares and Costa Rica will next face Jamaica on July 7 at Columbus Crew Stadium (6 p.m., TeleFutura).

- Both forward Calen Carr and midfielder Peter Lowry have rejoined the Fire's 24-man roster, coming off the disabled list last week.

- Goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra has moved from the developmental roster to a senior roster spot.

CHICAGO FIRE CAUTION WATCH

Player Number of Cautions Good Behavior Incentive

Bakary Soumare 4 2 more games

John Thorrington 4 2 more games

Chris Rolfe 3 ---

Tim Ward 3 ---

FIRE ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS OF 2009 SUPERLIGA TOURNAMENT

Despite a 2-1 loss to Tigres UANL to finish out group play, the Fire advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 SuperLiga tournament with a record of 2-0-1 in Group A play and a goal differential of +1. With the win, Tigres UANL took the top spot in Group A and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament as well. As the second place finisher in Group A, the Fire will take on defending SuperLiga champion and 2009 Group B top seed, the New England Revolution on July 15 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (6 p.m. CT, TeleFutura). The match will be a part of the SuperLiga Semifinal doubleheader played at Gillette Stadium that night. Given the tournament's semifinal matchups, the grand finale of the tournament will feature a Major League Soccer team hosting a Mexican League club.

BUSCH UP FOR AN ESPY AWARD- VOTE NOW AT ESPYS.TV

Goalkeeper Jon Busch has been nominated for a 2009 ESPY award in the category of Best MLS Player for his outstanding play throughout the past year. Fans determine the winner of each of the 37 categories, including Best MLS Player, and can cast their vote online at www.ESPYS.tv or via mobile phone at www.espn.mobi starting today, June 25th through July 11th. The ESPY awards are designed to recognize excellence in sports performance and achievements and are presented by ESPN each year. The awards are given for individual and team athletic achievements during the year preceding the award ceremony. This year, the nominees in the Best MLS Player category include Jon Busch of the Chicago Fire, Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls, Kenny Cooper of FC Dallas, Landon Donovan of LA Galaxy, and Guillermo Barros Schletto of the Columbus Crew. Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco was nominated in the Best MLS Player category last year.

WILMAN CONDE IS UNIVISION CHICAGO'S FEATURED PLAYER OF THE MONTH

The Fire and Univision Chicago are partnering to feature a different Chicago Fire player or coach each month as the Univision Chicago Player of the Month. Defender Wilman Conde is the Fire Player of the Month for June and will not only be featured each Monday during the Univision 10 o'clock newscast during the "Chicago Fire: Conexión Máxima" segment, Thorrington will contribute to Univision Radio's Nuevo Dia program on Monday mornings and connect with fans directly through a Live Chat and blog entries on Univsion.com. Head Coach Denis Hamlett was featured during the month of April, midfielder Marco Pappa was featured in May, and midfielder John Thorrington was featured in June.

4-v-4 FUTBOLITO TOURNAMENT COMES TO CHICAGO ON AUGUST 22

MLS Futbolito, the largest touring Hispanic event hosted by a U.S. professional sports league, comes to Chicago on August 22 at Riis Park, 6100 W. Fullerton Ave. The all-day 4-v-4 tournament is open to players of all ages, abilities and affiliations. Team rosters can consist of up to seven players (four field players and three substitutes) and each team will play in round-robin action, with the possibility of advancing to the single-elimination championship playoff. Teams registered for the competition will be divided according to age groups and competitive levels with winners in each division receiving prizes. In addition to the games, each registered player will receive a ticket to an MLS match (in applicable markets), a Futbolito t-shirt, and the chance to win prizes from the presenting sponsors as well as associate sponsors. For more information or to register a team, visit the official website: www.MLSFutbolito.com or call 888-MLS-FUTBOLITO.

PHISH SUMMER TOUR STOPS AT TOYOTA PARK

On their first summer tour in five years, Phish has announced a concert date at TOYOTA PARK on Tuesday, August 11th. Tickets are on sale now. Reserved and general admission tickets are priced at just $49.50 and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets including the TOYOTA PARK ticket offices, Ticketmaster.com and by calling (800) 745-3000.

BUFFETT RETURNS TO TOYOTA PARK

After the success of last summer's two TOYOTA PARK concerts, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will return to the stadium again this summer for two more unforgettable concert experiences as part of the "Summerzcool" Tour 2009. The concert dates are set for Saturday, Aug. 8 and Saturday, Aug. 15. The seating setup at the stadium will be similar to last year's concerts, as all seats will be reserved both on the field and in the stadium bowl. Tickets are on sale now through all Ticketmaster outlets including the TOYOTA PARK box office, Tickemaster.com, and by calling (800) 745-3000. For more information visit www.toyotapark.com.

BLANCO'S 'DIRECTO AL BLANCO' RADIO PROGRAM TUESDAY

"Directo al Blanco" a full-hour live radio program hosted by Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco will air this and every Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. CT. Listeners are encouraged to call and talk to Blanco about the latest soccer-related news regarding the Chicago Fire, Major League Soccer, and the Mexican Primera Division. The show airs nationally on RadioCadena stations in Chicago (WRTO-AM), Las Vegas (KLSQ-AM), Los Angeles (KTNQ-AM), San Francisco (KLOK-AM), El Paso (KAMA-AM), San Antonio(KCOR-AM), Dallas (KFLC-AM), McAllen (KGBT-AM), Houston (KLAT-AM), New York (WADO-AM), and Miami (WQBA-AM).

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 6, 2009


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