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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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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After up and down regular seasons that saw one team consistently dissatisfied with its results
and one team barely scrape its way into the playoffs, it's only fitting that the Chicago Fire and
Real Salt Lake take each other on. Both teams will enter the Eastern Conference Final feeling that
they have something to prove - Chicago wanting to live up to the hype that built up prior to and
during the season and Salt Lake wanting to prove they're first round win over Columbus was more
than merely a fluke.
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With only three days remaining before they take on Real Salt Lake in the Eastern Conference
Final, the Fire is looking for all of their injured players to return to the field to help Chicago
advance to its first MLS Cup Final since 2003.
Unfortunately for the Fire though, it doesn't appear as if all of their banged-up players will
be available on Saturday night at Toyota Park.
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I'll be talking with Denis Hamlett tomorrow so the time is now for you guys to pose questions to
the Fire's Head Man. Try and post your questions by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow and I'll do my best to get
them answered. No guarantees this time though, as I will be speaking to Hamlett via teleconference
-- meaning the number of questions I ask will be somewhat limited.
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After aggressively challenging New England keeper Matt Reis for a ball in the 52nd minute of
Saturday night's decisive Game 2 victory over the Revolution, Fire forward Brian McBride had to be
taken off of the field due to injury.
McBride, who missed 8 weeks earlier this year with a torn right labrum, picked up a knock on his
IT band in the collision, stiffening his leg to the point that he wasn't able to effectively
run.
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When their season on the line, the Fire needed a big-time performance from the back line in
Saturday night's second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New England
Revolution. And did the defense ever deliver, putting together a comprehensive performance to shut
down (and shutout) the Revolution and pave the way for the Fire to get into the Eastern Conference
Final.
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The two remaining MLS Conference Semifinal series were decided today, with the Houston Dynamo
and the L.A. Galaxy earning their places in the Western Conference Final. The teams booked their
tickets to the final -- which will be played next Friday at the Home Depot Center -- courtesy of
two 1-0 victories.
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What a night at Toyota Park.
After losing the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with New England 2-1,
the Fire stormed back in dramatic fashion tonight, getting a 2-0 victory to advance to the Eastern
Conference Finals on a 3-2 aggregate score.
Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington scored the goals for the Fire, who will take on fourth
seeded Real Salt Lake in the Conference Final next Saturday at Toyota Park.
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It all comes down to this for the Fire. They need to defeat the Revs tonight at Toyota Park to
have any hope of advancing to the Eastern Conference Final against Real Salt Lake. Will they do it?
We'll find that out later, but I'll be here to walk you through the whole process with Fire
Confidential's first all-day blog.
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The Fire came into last Sunday's Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the
New England Revolution with high hopes that they could leave Boston with a result.
And though the Fire got off to the right start in the series opener - scoring an early goal to
put the pressure on New England - the team was undone by a pair of defensive lapses and ultimately
fell to the Revolution 2-1.
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The first Eastern Conference finalist will be determined tonight, when the first seeded Columbus
Crew play host Real Salt Lake in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (7 p.m. CDT on
ESPN2).
The Crew fell to Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the series opener last Saturday and they'll need a win to
have hope of continuing their 2008 title defense.
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Back in late July and early August - when several Fire players began falling victim to injury -
it was assumed that most would be able to return in time for the start of the playoffs.
Now, with the Fire only a couple of days away from the decisive Game 2 of their Eastern
Conference Semifinal series against New England, a few of those players have yet to return or make
a significant impact while on the field.
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Hey everyone, I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett and I got quite a bit
of reaction to the 2-1 Game 1 loss to the New England Revolution.
A lot of the quotes are same old, same old from Denis (funny how that happens when the team
struggles with the same problems over and over again.
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Last week I took a look at five key questions that would play a role in determining the winner
of Game 1 of the Fire-Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. Now, with the 2-1 Revolution
win in the books, it's time to take a second look at those five questions and see how they played
out.
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In-stadium rivals Chivas USA and the L.A. Galaxy played to an exciting 2-2 draw Sunday night,
setting the stage for what will be the most important MLS "Super Clasico" to date next Sunday.
Chivas USA got off to a hot start in the match and they took the lead in just the 4th minute
when Maicon Santos drilled a right footed shot past L.
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The Fire headed into Sunday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the New England
Revolution knowing that they couldn't afford to give the Revs many set piece opportunities.
"We have to limit their set pieces," Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett said earlier this week. "[We
have to be careful on] throw-ins and corner kicks because they do well with those.
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We're finally here.
After 7 months of grueling regular season action, the Fire is just two hours away from kicking off
Game 1 of their two game Eastern Conference Semifinal against New England. Today's game should be a
hard-fought, physical battle (as it always is between the two long time rivals.
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Real Salt Lake got a late goal from striker Robbie Findley to defeat Columbus 1-0 in the opening
game of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series Saturday night.
The match looked to be headed to a scoreless draw, but that all changed in the 88th minute when
Findley slotted home a Yura Movsisyan cross to give RSL the win.
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The MLS playoffs continue tonight with Columbus traveling to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake
in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (6 p.m. Direct Kick). If Real Salt Lake is
to have any chance against the regular season champion Crew they need a result tonight -- as they
typically struggle mightily on the road.
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After three consecutive years suffering playoff heartbreak against the Revolution, the Fire will
try to extend their playoff winning streak against the Revs to two series this Sunday, when the two
sides meet at Gillette Stadium for Game 1 (1 p.m. on FSC) of their two game Eastern Conference
Semifinal matchup.
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The playoffs opened up last night in front of a raucous 30,000 + fans at Qwest Field in Seattle
last night, but the expansion Sounders went home disappointed as they failed to find the back of
the net in their 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo.
With the tie, Houston now only has to win at home when the series resumes on November 8th to
advance to the Western Conference Finals.
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Hey everyone, just wanted to clear a few things up in regards to the Blanco situation.
A source close to the situation told me that Blanco and Veracruz agreed to a one year deal -- which
will begin in January -- with an opt out clause for any point in the year. This means that Blanco
can choose to leave Veracruz at any point during the one-year deal and either return to the Fire
(who will continue negotiating with Blanco and his agent), join another team or retire.
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The Fire has confirmed an AP report that midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be leaving the club
at the end of the year to join Mexican second division club Veracruz.
Blanco, who played for Veracruz in 2004, is in the final year of a three year contract he signed
with the Fire prior to the 2007 season.
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Hey everybody, I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett so it's time for the
Mid-Week Update. Here we go...
Injury Updates --
Gonzalo Segares --
Segares, who has been out with a left MCL sprain since August 9th, is getting closer and closer
to making his long-awaited return to the lineup.
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MLS just announced that Game 1 of the Fire-Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal series has been
moved from Saturday, October 31st at 3 p.m. to Sunday, November 1st at 1 p.m.
As of now, the league hasn't announced the reasoning behind the change (I'll try and get that for
you guys later on.
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We should have known all along that it would come down to this. The Fire and the Revolution,
facing off in the playoff's for the eighth team in the Fire's 12 year history. It's one of the
biggest rivalries in the league, sure to be full of nastiness and with no room spared for
niceties.
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VS
Columbus Crew (#1 East) vs Real Salt Lake (#5 West)
Game 1: Saturday October 31st 5:30 PM @ Salt Lake
Game 2: Thursday November 5th 7:00 PM @ Columbus (ESPN2)
Regular Season Series tied 1-1
vs
Chicago Fire (#2 East) vs New England Revolution (#3 East)
Game 1: Saturday October 31st 3:00 PM @ New England (Fox Soccer Channel)
Game 2: Saturday November 7th 7:30 PM @ Chicago (Fox Soccer Channel)
Regular Season Seried tied 0-0-2
vs
LA Galaxy (#1 West) vs Chivas USA (#4 West)
Game 1: Sunday November 1st 4:00 PM @ Chivas (ESPN2)
Game 2: Sunday November 8th 6:30 PM @ Galaxy (ESPN2)
Regular Season Series: Galaxy lead 2-0-1
vs
Houston Dynamo (#2 West) vs Seattle Sounders FC (#3 West)
Game 1: Thursday October 29th 9:00 PM (ESPN2) @ Seattle
Game 2: Sunday November 8th 2:00 PM
Regular Season Series: Seattle lead 1-0-1
This post is from the Major League Soccer Fan Blog
MLS Cup Playoff Schedue is set
Related posts:
- MLS 2008 Playoff Schedule and Predictions
- 2008 TV Schedule
- Updated playoff race
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I've already taken a brief look at the Fire-Revolution first round series, but haven't spent any
time on the three other Conference Semifinals going on around the country in the next couple of
weeks. That's about to change though. Click after the jump for a quick rundown of the 'other' first
round series.
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When the Fire played the New England Revolution on Oct. 17, many saw the match as a possible
playoff preview.
Now that the MLS regular season has come to a close those predictions of a Fire-Revolution
postseason battle have come true. The sides will begin their two-leg Eastern Conference semifinal
series at 3 p.
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Chivas USA and Seattle Sounders FC both have guaranteed themselves a spot in the 2009 MLS Cup
Playoffs. They are joining defending champions Columbus Crew along with Houston Dynamo and LA
Galaxy.
That leaves 3 positions up for grabs on the last weekend of the year. Those 3 spots that are up
for grabs will have 7 teams possibly still alive to grab one of them.
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