Fire Travel to Toronto FC for Eastern Conference Clash Sunday

 

BRIDGEVIEW, IL (July 27 2007) – The Chicago Fire (4-8-4, 16 pts.) travel north to face Toronto FC (5-8-4, 19 pts.) in a fight for Eastern Conference advancement this Sunday at BMO Field in the third of three regular season meetings (2:00 p.m. CT, TeleFutura). The Fire are fresh off a 1-1 draw with Celtic FC in an international friendly last Sunday at TOYOTA PARK, where 15,719 fans witnessed the first start and goal scored by Fire attacker Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Toronto is a team happy to be home in league play, winning just once in six-straight previous regular season contests on the road and most recently falling to Aston Villa Wednesday night in an international friendly. This Sunday’s Fire-Toronto game will be broadcast live from BMO Field nationally on television via TeleFutura and over the airwaves on Chicagoland radio stations WRTO-AM 1200 (Spanish) and WNVR-AM 1030 (Polish).

 

Chicago Fire @ Toronto FC :: Fire Match #17 MLS – Match #110

Sunday, July 29 @ 2:00 p.m. CT :: BMO Field – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

TV: TeleFutura

Satellite: Telefutura, C-Band, AMC 1, Tr. 16, D/L: 4020

Audio: WRTO-1200 AM (Oscar Guzman, “Batata” DaSilva, Enrique “Tico” Fernandez), WNVR-1030 AM (Jacek Zielinski)

Game Guide: Attached

 

Chicago Fire/AthletiCo "Recovery Room” :: July 27

Banner, Mike – R groin strain – OUT

Curtin, Jim – R Shoulder laberal tear – OUT

Mapp, Justin – L groin strain – DOUBTFUL

Rolfe, Chris – L ankle sprain – PROBABLE

Russolillo, Jordan – R hip laberal tear – OUT

Soumare, Bakary – R ankle strain – DOUBTFUL

Telesford, Osei – L groin strain – DOUBTFUL

 

Fire’s Previous Trip to Toronto

The Chicago Fire were part of Major League Soccer history on May 12 at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, but not the kind that was to then-head coach Dave Sarachan’s liking.  Toronto, held scoreless in its first four games, tallied its first historic goal when forward Danny Dichio finished a loose ball in the penalty area in the 24th minute.  Fire forward Chris Rolfe scored in his third straight game in his last appearance made for the “Men in Red” before falling to injury later in the match, however, Chicago was on the wrong end of a 3-1 loss to Toronto FC before a sold out crowd of 20,041.  The victory marked the first for the Toronto expansion franchise, who at the time had lost their four-straight previous contests and had not scored a single goal.

 

Forward Paulo Wanchope Signs

Chicago Fire Soccer announced Friday the signing of Costa Rican international Paulo Wanchope (pronounced wahn-CHO-pay) and as a result of the signing, the Fire have now filled all four Senior International slots on the team’s 28-man full roster. Per Major League Soccer (MLS) and team policy, specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wanchope began his career with Club Sport Herediano (1994-97), before moving on to England to play with Derby County (1997-1999), West Ham United (1999-00), and Manchester City (2000-04), where he played under Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Wanchope has since seen stints with Malaga CF (2004-05), Al-Gharrafa Sports Club (2005), CS Herediano (2006), Rosario Central (2006), and most recently FC Tokyo (2007). The Costa Rican international is his country’s all-time leading goal scorer and has played in several Gold Cups, as well as the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.

 

Brown Available for Sunday

As a result of defender C.J. Brown’s yellow card caution in the 31st minute of the Fire’s 1-1 draw with Toronto FC on July 7, the veteran “Fire Original” held five total cautions for the 2007 regular season. Per MLS Disciplinary Committee rules, Brown served a one-game suspension and as a result was not available for head coach Juan Carlos Osorio in the July 12 match versus Houston. The 10-year Fire member saw his 15-game playing streak through the 2007 campaign come to an end, but will once again be available to Osorio for this Sunday’s game at Toronto FC.

 

Quick Kicks vs. Toronto FC

·          Chicago defender Gonzalo Segares is the only member of the “Men in Red” to have played in every regular season game for the Fire through the 2007 campaign.

·          The Fire are now 1-5-1 on the road this season, the sole win coming in a 1-0 decision at the Houston Dynamo courtesy of a Chris Rolfe tally in the 60th minute on April 29.

·          If Blanco makes his Fire regular season debut on Sunday, he will be the 27th player to appear in a regular season game for the “Men in Red” this year. The club record for most players used during a regular season is 28, back in 2002.

·          Barrett’s tally in the 1-1 draw with Toronto on July 7 broke three streaks: 1) 173 minutes without a shot on goal (7/01 vs. COL – Gonzalo Segares 87’) 2) Broke 262 MLS scoreless minutes at home (6/03 vs. CLB – Chad Barrett 78’), 3) Snapped MLS scoreless streak of 286 minutes (6/16 @ D.C. United – Jerson Monteiro 54’’)

·          The broken 286 minutes scoreless streak beat a previous Fire team record streak of 282 minutes dating back to an April 4, 1998 – April 25, 1998 scoreless stretch.

·          Caution Watch – Chad Barrett (2c), C.J. Brown (5c), Calen Carr (3c), Jeff Curtin (2c, 1e), Jim Curtin (2c), Diego Gutierrez (4c, 1e), Logan Pause (1c), Dasan Robinson (2c), Gonzalo Segares (4c), Bakary Soumare (1c, 1e), Thiago (3c).