There's only one game left in the 2009 MLS Schedule and it's the big one; the MLS Cup Final.
This year's final, which will be played at Seattle's Qwest Field, pits Western Conference regular
season champs the L.A. Galaxy against the streaking Real Salt Lake.
The matchup offers some good star power with the obvious L.
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MLS announced this afternoon that L.A. Galaxy forward Landon Donovan has been named league MVP.
The honor, which is the first MVP trophy in the 29-year-old's 9-year career, comes as a precursor
to Sunday night's MLS Cup Final -- when Donovan and L.A. will take on Real Salt Lake.
Donovan, who had 12 goals and 6 assists in 25 games this year, beat out finalists Shalrie Joseph
(New England Revolution) and Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas) for the award.
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Getting off the topic of the "Hauptman Letter Debate" for a minute, some important info came out
today regarding next Wednesday's MLS expansion draft. Here's the info, per Steve Goff (and
NaperSteve -- who provided the tip):
Philadelphia will select 10 players; current clubs must submit their 11-man protected list by
Monday afternoon; no club will lose more than one player, which means five teams won't lose anyone;
Generation Adidas and home-grown players [(for the Fire that means Baggio Husidic and Patrick
Nyarko] need not be protected; developmental players claimed must be offered a senior contract;
clubs must protect designated players that have no-trade clauses.
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On Tuesday, the Fire distributed a letter that owner Andrew Hauptman wrote to fans of the club. The
letter, which ran a relatively short 293 words, was sort of Hauptman's wrap on the season. It
details how he felt after the Real Salt Lake game and reminds fans that the club is already working
hard to bring a championship back to Chicago next season.
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Thierry Henry certainly isn't making any Irish eyes smile tonight.
Ireland is fuming after Henry admittedly handled a ball that he immediately played to William
Gallas who put it in the net to tie Ireland at 1-1 and send France into the World Cup virtue of a
2-1 aggregate victory.
Here's a video of Henry's incident:
In my book, it's a complete shame that Ireland failed to make the World Cup because of such an
obvious hand ball.
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Six teams qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa today, finalizing the field that
will compete in the first World Cup in African soil.
France, Slovenia, Uruguay, Portugal, Greece and Algeria advanced to the finals ending the dreams
of Ireland, Russia, Costa Rica, Ukraine and Egypt in the process.
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It's pretty easy to see why this season was a frustrating one for Fire defender Gonzalo Segares.
After being a stalwart in the backline for years for the Fire, Segares was forced to the sidelines
this year, only playing in 12 regular season games due to a combination of injuries and national
team call-ups.
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The Fire's front office brass and Denis Hamlett are scheduled to have a sit-down in the next
couple of days to discuss the Head Coach's future at the club.
"We're supposed to have a meeting in the next couple of days," Hamlett said on Tuesday
afternoon. "We spoke yesterday and decided that we want to sit down and have a discussion.
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Hey everybody, I have had an insanely busy last couple of days so unfortunately I wasn't able to
write a full entry for this morning. However, I didn't want to leave the site blank for you guys so
I thought I'd share a short -- yet loaded -- question with you all.
You can check out the poll after the jump.
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MLS announced it's 2009 Best XI today and one Fire player, defender Wilman Conde, made the list.
It's the first time on the Best XI for the 27-year-old Conde, who made the list despite missing 11
regular season games due to injury.
The honor caps a solid season for Conde, who was a rock in the back for the Fire and even
contributed two goals and two assists on the year.
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It goes without saying that Saturday night's playoff elimination at the hands of Real Salt Lake
was an incredibly gut-wrenching defeat for the Fire. It's tough any time a team bows out of a
competition due to penalty kicks, but this one was especially painful for Chicago - who has now
been eliminated from the Eastern Conference Final in three consecutive seasons.
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A common saying amongst those in the soccer world is that a penalty kick shootout is a cruel way
to decide a match.
After Saturday night, the Chicago Fire knows that saying back to front.
120 minutes of action saw the Fire and Real Salt Lake knotted at 0-0 so it all came down to a
penalty shootout.
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A trip to the MLS Cup is on the line as the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake are almost set to
face off in tonight's Eastern Conference Final at Toyota Park. Who will advance remains to be seen,
but I'll be here to take you through the whole day with Fire Confidential's second All Day
Blog.
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The Fire couldn't have asked for much more from last Saturday's 2-0 win over New England.
Advance in the Eastern Conference playoffs? Check.
Do it against a bitter rival? Check.
And do it all in style? Oh my, yes. Check.
That's what can happen when the Fire plays some of its most inspired soccer at the best time of
year before a packed house at Toyota Park.
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Tickets for the Saturday night's Eastern Conference Final between the Fire and Real Salt Lake
sold out today. The sellout is the second consecutive for the Fire - who will sell a very limited
amount of standing room only tickets for the game.
If you're sitting on some cash, you can buy the so called "FieldSide West" tickets for $250 a
pop.
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