Footy Factor 20 November @ 06:31 PM EST
Liverpool v Manchester City? Tish tosh! The biggest match of the weekend is
actually taking place in Seattle and involves a certain Mr. Posh – as our MLS
correspondent Andy Taylor reports:
Sunday night's MLS Cup Final is set with an unheralded Real Salt Lake squad
squaring off against the LA Galaxy, David Beckham and his ever-growing
collection of tattoos.
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The Dayton Dynamo were, I now realize, far from a high-quality team. But in Southwest Ohio in
early 1990s, there were few better options. European soccer on television would come later that
decade, but growing up the only live option was the Dynamo.
The Dynamo did not even play the true 11-a-side game seen around the world.
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Soccerblog 20 November @ 01:19 AM EST
My introduction to Daniele De Rossi was the vicious elbow that he threw at Brian McBride,
leaving his face bloody in the USA vs Italy match in the 2006 World Cup. It left a negative
impression of him but here is De Rossi doing something rare in football nowadays, acknowledging
that he used his hand to score a goal against Serie side Messina.
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Final Record: 11-7-12 (45 pts)
Goals:
10) Chris Rolfe
9) Marco Pappa
8) Cuauhtemoc Blanco
7) Chris Rolfe
6) Peter Lowry
5) Patrick Nyarko
4) Brian McBride
3) Peter Lowry
2) Chris Rolfe
1) Brian McBride
Note: Only goals scored in the 2009 regular season were considered.
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WVHooligan 16 November @ 03:08 PM EST
Expect a new look Fire in 2010. (Getty Images)
The 2009 season for the Chicago Fire was expected to be a big one. Talks of MLS Cup and
Supporter's Shield were all the rage to begin the season. Early on this year it looked like the
expectations were being met as the Fire lost a single game in the first three months of the
season.
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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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The Major League Soccer 2009 Eastern Conference Final was on Saturday with Real Salt Lake
traveling to face the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. The winner would move onto the MLS Cup Final
next Sunday against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Here's a recap of the match along with video
highlights.
Real Salt Lake beats Chicago Fire 0-0 (5-4 on penalty kicks) Video
Highlights
It was a close match on Saturday but Real Salt Lake found a way to advance and continue their
improbable run to the MLS Cup Final.
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Will Real Salt Lake and Yura Movsisyan be celebrating at Toyota Park Saturday night? Most agree
that such an accomplishment is possible, yet a Chicago Fire win seems more probable. No matter
what, it should be an entertaining encounter in front of a sellout crowd in Bridgeview.
A lot of the Fire's fortunes will come down to the health of two of their defensive players.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
Welcome to the latest installment of Your October Questions Answered, where we take your
reader-submitted questions and try to offer up our best responses and opinions to those
questions.
This batch of questions covers everything from Brian McBride's potential return to the U.
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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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WVHooligan 10 November @ 05:12 PM EST
Who to protect and who to expose is the guessing game for the Fire. (Getty Images)
This year unlike the last couple the expansion draft caught up with me here. I almost feel like
I am a little late getting these lists out for the draft which is a couple days after MLS Cup.
Starting today I will release a team-by-team list of who I think will be protected and who I think
will be left exposed.
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It's one of the more pointless awards MLS hands out, but for what it's worth the reigning MLS
Goalkeeper of the Year beat out the Chicago Fire's Brian McBride (who may have stopped playing in
MLS, but never stopped playing excellent attacking soccer - is he available next year in South
Africa?) and D.
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The season has got to end sometime. And for the Seattle Sounders, the script could have had a
better ending on a dream season -- one that would have culminated hoisting the MLS Cup in front of
the Sounders faithful at Qwest Field on November 22. Unfortunately for the Emerald City, it was not
to be, as Brian Ching and the Houston Dynamo had other plans.
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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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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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A little something flaring up at Toyota Park
View full size photo »
If you need any more evidence of why continued stadium development is the most important element
in professional soccer's domestic development, go watch Saturday's match from Chicago.
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The Fire came into the second leg down 2-1 in aggregate goals facing an opponent that they've faced
a huge number of times in the playoffs over the years, lately with good results. I could go on
about the challenges that the Revs faced this year, but frankly it's not worth the time. This Fire
team came into the playoffs in mediocre form, with rumors of trouble in the locker room and using a
patchwork lineup.
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Soccerblog 08 November @ 09:19 AM EST
Patrick Nyarko was elusive and hard to pin down by the Revs
How did Pat Phelan not bury that pinpoint Kenny Mansally cross into the back of the net? It was
the clearest look at the goal all night and Phelan heads the ball out. He could have been a hero
forcing extra time. As it turned out, the Fire did not have to go through that route.
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A storm of off-season change is coming. I just have this feeling that this is going to be a real
shape shifter as off-seasons go, with more flux than usual in MLS management and personnel.
Today I learned that this season of significant winter movement will begin on Nov. 25, when
manager Peter Nowak and his Philadelphia Union will cherry-pick off 15 MLS rosters.
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WVHooligan 06 November @ 10:42 AM EST
Landon Donovan leads the Galaxy against rivals Chivas. (Getty Images)
One more weekend of action and we will be in the conference finals here. One club is already in
and three others will move on this weekend. After last weekend's play the pressure is on a couple
home teams to rebound while one just has to keep on doing what they do best in front of their
fans.
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Here are a few links to get your day started...
The 'Players Only' section of the Chicago Tribune did a fun little piece with Fire midfielders John
Thorrington and Logan Pause the other day. Thorrington interviewed Pause for the entry, asking
Logan all sorts of things in rapid-fire format.
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It was announced yesterday that Fire forward Brian McBride has been nominated as a finalist for
the 2009 MLS Comeback Player of the Year award.
McBride, who is competing with D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen and Chivas USA keeper Zach
Thornton for the award, lead the Fire in scoring with seven goals this season despite missing eight
weeks with a torn right labrum.
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Goalkeeper of the year -- Nov. 4
Nominees: Kasey Keller (Seattle), Donovan Ricketts (L.A.), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
Who will win: Thornton. Veteran might have put up his best year in the league.
Who should win: Thornton. This team overachieved and its MVP is the reason why.
Fair Play Finalists -- Nov.
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My recent posts on ESPNChicago.com:
• Brian McBride (pictured right) among three finalists for MLS Comeback Player of the Year
• Can the Fire make up their one-goal playoff deficit this Saturday?
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Here's the full list as released today by MLS:
Goalkeeper of the Year
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Donovan Ricketts - Los Angeles Galaxy
Zach Thornton - Chivas USA
Fair Play Finalists - Individual
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Steve Ralston - New England Revolution
Comeback Player of the Year
Brian McBride - Chicago Fire
Ben Olsen - D.
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WVHooligan 02 November @ 03:02 PM EST
Hot off the presses from the league front office. Major League Soccer has announced the
finalists to their season ending awards today. Only a few shockers jump out at me here with these
but I'll get to that in a moment.
Keeper of the Year (to be announced Nov. 4)
Kasey Keller, Seattle
Donovan Ricketts, Los Angeles
Zach Thornton, Chivas USA
Defender of the Year (Nov.
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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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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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Soccerblog 01 November @ 09:45 AM EST
Eastern Conference Semifinals - First Leg
New England Revolution vs Chicago Fire
Sun., Nov. 1, Gillette Stadium (2 p.m. ET; FSC/FSE)
DF Chris Albright (L lateral meniscus tear); MF Steve Ralston (R ACL tear); FW Taylor
Twellman (concussion)
That is pretty much the meats and bones of the team gone there.
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_________________Photo by ISIphotos.com
If familiarity breeds contempt, then the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution hate each other
on a level no two teams in MLS can match.
The Eastern Conference foes have made meeting in the playoffs a rite of passage, having done so
for five of the past six years.
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_________________Photo by ISIphotos.com
If familiarity breeds contempt, then the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution hate each other
on a level no two teams in MLS can match.
The Eastern Conference foes have made meeting in the playoffs a rite of passage, having done so
for five of the past six years.
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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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Seattle Sounders midfielder Freddy Llungberg is Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for
October. He had four assists as the expansion Sounders qualified for the MLS playoffs. Llungberg
was the Player of the Week for Week 31. 2009 MLS Player of the Month Awards March: Fredy Montero
– Seattle Sounders FC April: Brian McBride – Chicago Fire May: Conor Casey – Colorado Rapids
June: Guillermo Barros Schelotto – Columbus Crew July: Landon Donovan –.
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One shouldn't be in the business of making blind endorsements, but I'm going to step out and echo
my dude Dunny's co-sign on Steve Sirk's new Columbus Crew book, A Massive Season. I haven't read it
but it's just nice to see some American soccer-based product available in Amazon.com.
This coupled with the long, long, long-awaited release of Simon Kuper's upcoming book,
Soccernomics, makes for a banner month for The Largest Library of Soccer Related Literature on the
Jersey Shore™.
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WVHooligan 22 October @ 01:15 PM EST
Sacha Kljestan and Chivas head to Chicago to face the Fire. (Getty Images)
It is simple for each club, keep winning and good things happen. All the Chicago Fire needs to
do tonight is win (or even draw) and they are in the playoffs. As for Chivas a win tonight and a
win over the weekend could turn into a Supporter's Shield trophy.
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