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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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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Lost in the shuffle of the Fire's thrilling Eastern Conference Semifinals victory was the fact that the team announced the 2009 awards on Friday night.

Wilman Conde, Brian McBride and Logan Pause were the recipients of the honors, which included Team MVP, Team Golden Boot Winner, Team Defender of the Year and U.

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Things took a wild turn in the MLS playoff race last night as the team with the least amount of points heading into the day, Real Salt Lake, was the only team to end the night with a playoff spot clinched.
Real Salt Lake got into the 2009 edition of the MLS Cup Playoffs in the same exact way they got into the 2008 postseason -- by defeating the Colorado Rapids in the last game. Click to continue reading...

With two playoff spots remaining and six teams in the hunt, things could get a little dicey in MLS this weekend.

Colorado (40 points) is the only team that controls its own destiny and if they get a win at Real Salt Lake tonight (9 p.m. on FSC) they will clinch the 3rd or 4th seed in the Eastern Conference.

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The Fire finally clinched their spot in the playoffs tonight, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 1-0 win at a rain-soaked Toyota Park over Western Conference leaders Chivas USA.

The Fire, who took the lead in the 67th minute when Chivas forward Eduardo Lillingston put a Cuauhtemoc Blanco corner kick in the back of the net for an own goal, snapped a six game winless streak with the loss and now enters the postseason with a little bit of momentum.

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Hey everyone, I'm settled in at a very rainy Toyota Park and the Fire and Chivas are almost set to kick off their all-important match. The Fire will be looking for a win or a tie to clinch the Eastern Conference's second seed in the upcoming playoffs but Chivas will be gunning for a win to take the lead in the tightly-packed Western Conference. Click to continue reading...

After the Fire last met Western Conference leaders Chivas USA in MLS action on May 28th, Chicago was the talk of the league. Not only had the Fire just pulled off a thrilling 3-2 come from behind victory over Chivas - who at the time were MLS leaders - but they also extended their season-opening unbeaten streak to 11 games.

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Now that I've finally spoken to Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett, I can provide you guys with a couple of updates regarding the Fire's injury situation and give some reaction to the 0-0 draw with New England this past Saturday. Here we go... Injury Updates: Wilman Conde - Game day decision Conde, who missed last Saturday's game at the New England Revolution with a hamstring injury, has yet to train this week.

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Hey everybody, thought I'd share a few links with you before I talk with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett later this afternoon (knock on wood...).Here's a piece the USA Today put together further detailing the MLS playoff situation. It gives a pretty broad view of the postseason picture and drops some valuable knowledge so you should check it out.

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I'll be interviewing Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett this afternoon and wanted to open up the floor for you all to pose some questions to the man in charge of the Fire. If you get your question in before 1 p.m., I'll do my best to get it answered for you. I should have a post-interview piece up for you guys at around 3:30, so be sure to check back for that.

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With the expansion Seattle Sounders booking their ticket to the MLS Cup playoffs over the weekend, only three spots remain in the postseason bracket. If the current standings hold up, the Fire (who currently holds the second seed in the Eastern Conference), Colorado and Toronto would qualify for the postseason.

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Hey everybody, I thought I'd share a few links with you all as the weekend slowly comes to a close. As I mentioned yesterday, the Fire is hosting a FIFA Soccer 10 launch party Monday night at the Hancock Center Best Buy starting at 4. If you go you'll not only get a chance to play the game before it come out on Tuesday but you'll also get a chance to play in a 32-man FIFA tournament and meet Fire forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

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If someone would have told me midway through the season that the Fire's playoff fate would be in the balance heading into their final match, I would've have called them crazy. But here we are. After tonight's 0-0 draw at the Revolution, the Fire find themselves with one game left to play and their future still uncertain.

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Hey everyone, we're 20 minutes from game time and it should be a good one at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Mass. I'll be sharing all of my thoughts/observations in the comments section of this post -- and I encourage you to do the same. Also, if you're interested in meeting a Fire player/getting a look at FIFA 10 (which comes out on Tuesday) the Fire is hosting a FIFA 10 tournament at the Best Buy Hancock center in downtown Chicago on Monday.

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The Fire may have two regular season games remaining, but they want to clinch their spot in the postseason this weekend when they take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. The Fire, who will be able to clinch a berth in the playoffs with a win this Saturday, have played the Revolution twice in 2009 - drawing 1-1 at Toyota Park way back on May 9th and winning 2-1 in Foxboro in the SuperLiga semifinals on July 15th.

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With only two games remaining in the 2009 regular season, the second-place Chicago Fire is heading into this Saturday's match at the New England Revolution with one goal in mind: win, and clinch a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs. "The important thing is if we can get that little asterisk next to our name that means we've qualified for the playoffs," said Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett.

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With the Fire getting ready to take on the New England Revolution this Saturday, the time is ripe for an injury update. Here we go... John Thorrington - Out The central midfielder, who hasn't played since August 29th, will miss this weekend's match with a case of athletic pubaglia (English translation: groin pain/sports hernia).

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I'll be talking with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett tomorrow afternoon and (in what is becoming a weekly feature here...) I wanted to open the floor for you all to pose a few questions.Try and get your questions in by 12 noon tomorrow and I'll do my best to get Hamlett to answer them for you. This will be my last post until tomorrow afternoon, when I'll be back with any news that Hamlett passes along.

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Thirty-two minutes into the Fire's 2009 home opener against the New York Red Bulls, Fire midfielder Marco Pappa lit up a windswept, rain soaked Toyota Park crowd when he smashed a 20 yard half volley off the post and into the back of the net. Pappa's goal - which would prove to be the game winner - set the tone for a fantastic start to his 2009 campaign, and gave fans hope that the 21-year-old Guatemalan would emerge as the Fire's next big-time offensive threat.

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Yesterday was a huge day for soccer fans around the world as eight more teams secured their spot in South Africa for next year's World Cup. The U.S. and Mexico each used a big-time win to ensure their qualification, with Mexico getting a goal from Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco in their 4-1 defeat of El Salvador at Estadio Azteca and the U.

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With a schedule jam packed with MLS and World Cup Qualifying action, today is a big day in the soccer universe. Some of the international matches sparking my interest include Denmark v. Sweden (1 p.m., FSE), Hungary v. Portugal (2:45 p.m., Setanta Sports), Mexico vs. El Salvador (5 p.m., Telemundo), Costa Rica v.

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Despite missing the last two games with a hamstring injury, Fire forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco could very well return to the field this Saturday night, when he and the rest of the Mexican National Team face off against El Salvador in an all-important World Cup Qualifier. Blanco, who injured his hamstring in the second half of the Fire's 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew on September 20th, is no doubt looking to return to action this weekend - a prospect that makes some Fire personnel apprehensive.

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With a whopping six players listed on this week's injury report, the Fire's second bye week of 2009 couldn't have come at a better time. The team is hoping to return at least a few of the players on this week's injury list in time for next Saturday's game at New England and it looks like the team has reason to be hopeful.

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I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett and got quite a bit of information out of him. I'll be sharing all of the info over the next few days, but I thought I'd start out with an injury update. There will be a bunch of new news in the post so be sure to come back and check it out.

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Hey everybody, thought I'd let you know that I will be interviewing Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett tomorrow, so if you have a question for him now is the time to ask. Try and get them in by 12:00 and I'll do my best to get them answered for you.And in other MLS-related news, League Commissioner Don Garber is in London to talk with the leaders of English soccer about introducing more financial responsibility into the European game.

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Not a whole lot of Fire related news coming out of Toyota Park today, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to catch up on some older bits of info that I haven't had the time to post on earlier. Here we go...Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com wrote a nice feature on Brian McBride's upcoming off-season decision the other day.

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With the Fire starting off their second (and last) bye week of the season today, I thought it would be good to update the MLS playoff picture for you guys. So, with that, here we go... This weekend, the Galaxy (44 points, 2 games remaining) and the Dynamo (44 points, 2 games remaining) became the second and third teams, respectively, to clinch a 2009 playoff spot.

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Heading into Friday night's game against the L.A. Galaxy, Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett knew to watch out for the Los Angeles counterattack. "They're a very good counterattacking team," Hamlett said of the Galaxy. "They have some good guys [that will] test out our back four." But knowledge isn't always power, and the Galaxy proved that at the Home Depot Center tonight, scoring a counterattacking goal to defeat the Fire 1-0.

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We're just an hour and a half from kickoff at the Home Depot Center and the Fire and the Galaxy should be just about ready to go. Consider this post your running thread for any comments/thoughts you want to share on tonight's match. I'll be checking in throughout the 90 minutes in the comments section.

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To say that the Fire and the Galaxy are merely similar is a colossal understatement. It's taking the easy way out. I mean, one would almost have to write a book to properly describe the seemingly dozens of statistical similarities between the Fire and L.A. Lucky for you, Fire Confidential is in the "writing" business so I think it's time I used this handy little media outlet and provided a little statistical evidence for my opening claim.

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I've already written at length about the Fire's many injury issues ahead of tomorrow night's game at the L.A. Galaxy, but what of the medical situation of the Fire's opponent? Well, if you can believe it, the Galaxy is currently in a comparable injury situation to the Fire - as they too have several key players listed on this week's injury report.

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Here are a few quick Fire-Galaxy themed links to start your day. I hope to be back with another entry later on, so keep it here...The USA Today did a nice feature on Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, which you can check out here. Donovan - who scored in the Galaxy's 2-0 win over the Fire back on August 19th - is, in my mind, the best player in MLS and the Fire need to watch out tomorrow night, because he can turn a match around in a hurry.

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I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett. Here are a few notes from the conversation... Injury Updates: Cuauhtemoc Blanco -Left Hamstring Strain - Listed As Questionable Despite being listed as "Questionable" on the Fire's injury report, Denis Hamlett told me that Temo will miss his second straight game this Friday against the Galaxy.

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So, I'm about to talk with Denis Hamlett and after I'm done interviewing the Fire's Head Man I'll be writing the latest edition of the midweek update. I'm hoping to put it up within a hour and a half or so......

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