The Los Angeles Galaxy takes on the Chicago Fire in a battle of second place teams on Friday,
October 2 at 8PM. The game will be on ESPN2.
On paper this should be a tough, hard fought match between two teams that need to be peaking
right now if they have hopes of going deep in the post-season.
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The Netminder 16 September @ 11:29 AM EST
MLS rosters are finally frozen. Here's a look at how much each team has changed since March.
Also worth checking is something that can shake up a roster without a personnel decision: the
injury list.
CHICAGOHasn't changed much since the beginning of the season except for the departure of unhappy defender
Bakary Soumare to Europe.
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Wondering how the recent moves of Chris Rolfe and Bakary Soumare to Europe will impact Brian
McBride's offseason decision? Well, I asked the 37-year-old McBride - who is in the last year of
his contract with the Fire - just that question after the Fire's practice last Thursday. Here is
what the Arlington Heights native had to say.
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Yes Fire fans, Mr. ESPN is leaving the Fire in the January transfer window. So for those of you
who hate soap operas, I'm sorry. As the Chicago Fire World Turns will continue on and I'm
sure that the drama will be top notch.
As my colleague Matthew, has punctually stated in his recent article "I Wish I Had A Crystal
Ball," the Fire are on the verge of a possible exodus of players with the question marks and
explanation points surrounding the exits and of Blanco, McBride, Rolfe, Pappa, Soumare, Prideaux,
Segares, Conde and even Dennis Hamlett.
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MLS Daily 27 August @ 02:29 AM EST
Americans Abroad / USMNT
USA Qualifying Update - Soccer Insider
Tickets Still Available To WCQ: US vs El Salvador - Keepin' It Real
Another Call-Up - Behind The Shield
Beckerman To Be Named To US Qualifier Roster - Deseret News
Beckerman To USMNT For Upcoming Matches - Keepin' It Real
Beckerman Getting Call For Qualifiers - Salt Lake Tribune
Beckerman Named To USA National Team - ABC4.
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Chicago Fire central defender Bakary Soumare is bound for France and has seen his final days in
Chicago.
On Wednesday, the Fire officially announced the transfer of the All-Star defender to Boulogne of
the French Ligue 1, where he reportedly will earn $2.15 million.
"We would like to thank Bakary Soumare for his contributions to this club and wish him the best in
his future playing career," Fire technical director Frank Klopas said in a release.
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It was a great experience to go to another MLS stadium last weekend, not least because we were
hosted by the Fire Supporters Club who looked after us grandly. I wanted to share a few
observations picked up over the weekend because I think they are of interest to all soccer fans.
Maybe we could even learn some things from them.
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MLS Daily 26 August @ 03:39 PM EST
Bakary Soumare and the Chicago Fire have officially parted ways as of this afternoon, with the
Eastern Conference club confirming the transfer of the All-Star defender to French club US Boulogne
(full name: Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale) in a press release. Several reports
put the transfer fee for the Mali international at €1.
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Well after months of rumors and a few days of unofficial reports, the transfer of the now former
Fire Defender Bakary Soumare to Boulogne of the French First Division has finally gone
through....
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MLS Rumors 26 August @ 01:38 PM EST
This man is officially heading out of MLS and to Ligue 1!
The Chicago Fire today announced that defender Bakary Soumare has been transferred to Boulogne of
the French first division pending the completion of a physical with the French club. Per club
policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
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Yanks Soccer 26 August @ 11:28 AM EST
There are a number of interesting things going on in the Yanks Soccer world today, so it's time
for us to catch up on all the things going on. Â More after the jump...
-To start off, I need to pimp three articles I have written for goal.com recently. Â The first
is the new outlook of the US World Cup Roster based on the post Azteca fallout.
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WVHooligan 25 August @ 06:26 AM EST
Week 23 in Major League Soccer proved to be a big one for some clubs. New York finally got off
the losing end of things, New England won two straight to move into playoff contention, San Jose
finally turned the tide late in the games, and LA got four quality road points in the week.
Yes, week 23 changed a decent bit of things in the rankings.
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MLS Rumors 24 August @ 06:43 PM EST
This man is going to stretch his legs with a stroll over to Ligue 1 side Boulogne.
According to L'Equipe (click here for the original article en francais and all the details), Bakary
Soumare of the Chicago Fire has been sold to French Ligue 1 side, Boulogne, for 1.5 million euros.
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WVHooligan 24 August @ 02:31 PM EST
Looks like the locker-room issue in Chicago surrounding defender Bakary Soumare and manager
Denis Hamlett is resolved today. Reports from France say the Fire have sold the All-Star defender
to French club Boulogne for a little over $2 million.
For a club struggling for consistent play at home, losing their best defender in this manner is
going to be a bigger blow than some people will be willing to admit.
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According to a report from Goal.com, Fire defender Bakary Soumare is finally making his
long-awaited move to Europe as he will leave Chicago to join Boulogne-Sur-Mer of the French Ligue 1
for a reported fee of 1.5 million Euros ($2.15 million)....
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Who will Peter Nowak and the Philadelphia Union take? Who will each team protect? I don't know, but
I'll give it my best guess three months before everyone really starts focusing on it. You remember
the rules, don't you? I'm assuming they'll stay the same as the past three years: 11 players can be
protected, must protect three foreigners, GA players are exempt.
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Despite their horrible performance in a 2-0 defeat to the L.A. Galaxy last night, the Fire will
go on and their focus must now turn to Sunday's increasingly important match against Colorado. But
before we get to the Fire's next game, I wanted to pass along a few bits of info I picked up last
night at Toyota Park.
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WVHooligan 20 August @ 10:17 AM EST
I'm sure you've all seen the reports by now, Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare got into a
little bit of a wrestling match with manager Denis Hamlett last week during halftime of the
Chicago-Houston game. Soumare was subbed out for the start of the second half but that isn't even
half of the story according to Luis Arroyave who returned to write about soccer for a day
yesterday.
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 Â
                                           Â
                         Photo by ISIphotos.com
By TRAVIS CLARK
Overshadowing last night's Chicago-Los Angeles game were reports that Bakary Soumare's bust up
with coach Dennis Hamlett may signify that the African's tenure in Chicago is over.
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 Â
                                           Â
                         Photo by ISIphotos.com
By TRAVIS CLARK
Overshadowing last night's Chicago-Los Angeles game were reports that Bakary Soumare's bust up
with coach Dennis Hamlett may signify that the African's tenure in Chicago is over.
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The Chicago Fire take on the Los Angeles Galaxy tonight at Toyota Park. No David Beckham, but LA
still does have a strong road record while the Fire don't have the best home numbers.
I'll be watching so I decided to do a running commentary. Whether you are watching, or stuck
somewhere you can't watch, please feel free to follow along here.
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A list of the most paranoid and possibly cuckoo things I have heard or read this week that have me
wondering how long it will be until Scully & Mulder are arrested by security in the tunnel at
HDC:
- ACES, the most diabolical haters this side of the Playa Haters Ball, claim that the crowd noise
in Seattle may piped in.
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I was at the Toyota Park training field today and although only about half of the Fire's roster
was on the field with me (don't worry, the rest aren't injured, just inside lifting weights) it was
still a pretty busy news day. Read on for all the latest......
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For a team playing without its entire starting backline, a starting midfielder, and two starting
forwards, the Fire did pretty well for themselves Sunday afternoon, ending their two-game losing
streak with a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Fire - who was
playing their first game after Bakary Soumare's and Denis Hamlett's "locker room incident" - took
the lead in the 13th minute through Chris Rolfe.
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Can Chicago's battered defense handle shorthanded obstacle?
Remember earlier this season when Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco felt this team had too
many defenders?
He might want to take that wording back as the Fire try to locate their winning ways again on the
road when they face the host Kansas City Wizards at 2 p.
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The Fire revealed tonight that defender Bakary Soumare and Head Coach Denis Hamlett were each
fined an undisclosed amount for what the team is calling a "locker room incident" that took place
at halftime of last Sunday's 3-2 loss to Houston....
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A list of all penalties can be found on the league stats page (scroll to the bottom). However, on
that page they don't list who earned and conceded the penalties like they used to a few years back.
I've always missed that, so I keep track of it myself by looking through match reports.
This seems to be the year of the handball.
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Chicago Fire trio sees playing time during MLS's first international loss
Chicago Fire defender Wilman Conde and midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco each got the start for the
Major League Soccer All-Star Team during the squad's loss to Everton FC on Wednesday at Rio Tinto
Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
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The Chicago Fire are well-represented on this year's MLS All-Star Team, which faces Everton FC at
8:30 p.m. (CST) Wednesday, with the game televised on ESPN2. Midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco and
defenders Wilman Conde and Bakary Soumare are on this year's MLS squad.
Read my Examiner.com MLS Notebook featuring the MLS All-Star Game, as well as my 2009 Non-All-Star
Game inductees.
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WVHooligan 28 July @ 02:13 PM EST
As some of you may know, with the current format of the MLS All-Star game the league set up an
in-active roster for players to receive All-Star bonuses that aren't playing in the game. Pretty
much it means the league is paying another set of guys to be All-Stars as if the league was still
playing a east versus west style of game.
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I was going to pick out some interesting facts about the All-Star Game and make some lists out
of them (three Colombian MLS All-Stars: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Fredy Montero, Wilman Conde). But I
thought it might be more valuable to readers just to have the rosters, especially Everton's. So
here they are:
EVERTON FC
Carlo Nash, goalkeeper, Bolton, England
Tim Howard, goalkeeper, New Brunswick, N.
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Thank you, NBCU.
Props to NBC Universal for answering the call of soccer fans around the country looking for the
Aug. 12 World Cup Qualifier between the United States and Mexico to be available widely in English.
They have now agreed to make Mun2, Telemundo's bilingual channel, available for free to all cable
providers Aug.
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More fuel to the spreading rumor that Montreal is set to be awarded the next league expansion
franchise. The city gets great USL support and should flourish.
Also, RSL's Will Johnson, Chicago's Bakary Soumare and Chivas USA's Zach Thornton have all been
added to the MLS all-star game to replace tired and injured folk.
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Fire center back Bakary Soumare was added to the MLS All Star Team today. Soumare will be
replacing Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching on the roster. The All Star selection is the first of
Baky's career and he will join Fire teammates Wilman Conde and Cuauhtemoc Blanco in Salt Lake City
for the match against Everton this Wednesday.
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Real Salt Lake midfielder Will Johnson and Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare have been added
to the MLS All-Star roster as replacements for Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching and New England
Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph.
Johnson replaces Joseph, who has been diagnosed with bone bruising in his right knee.
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