STARTERS - BOB BRADLEY IS OUT
Bob Bradley was fired today as head coach of the USA national team. The federation has stated that they will have another announcement tomorrow. Don't know if that will be about a new coach, or an interim, or etc etc etc.
We here at du Nord are big fans of coach Bradley and want to thank him for all his hard work, and wish him all the best in his next endeavor.

The Fire have announced that midfielder Davis Paul has been waived. Non guaranteed MLS contracts can be released before July 1 giving teams maneuverability with their rosters and salary budget. Players on the roster after July 1 are guaranteed compensation for the remainder of 2011.

The release of Paul, who appeared in one match this season leaves the Fire with 27 players on the roster.

With a 1-0 win in Rochester the Fire advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup tournament and will now face the New York Red Bulls at Toyota Park on July 12. The Columbus Crew were upset by the Richmond Kickers and were the only MLS side not to advance. The Fire Premier team was defeated by Sporting Kansas City 3-0.

Catch the game streaming live online at Chicago-Fire.com and talk about it live here as it happens. First kick is scheduled for 6:35 CDT.

Fire v Rhinos US Open Cup

At the half way point of the MLS season (17 games) the Fire have accumulated an incredible 11 draws. Only one short of tying the club record for draws in a season (12) set in 2009. They are only three ties away from equalling the MLS record for most deadlocks in a season as well. The record is 14 set by FC Dallas last season.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Nyarko, Paladini, Husidic, Pappa

F Oduro, Chaves

Bench: Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Videira, Chaves, Ferrari

Red Bulls

GK Condoul

D Solli, Keel, Mendes, Miller

M Richards, Tainio, Ballouchy, Lindpere

F Henry, DeRosario

Bench: Sutton, JOnes, Schneider, Da Luz, Kassel, Rooney, Hertzog

The Fire and Red Bulls are coming off of mid week matches while looking at the prospect of playing another match on Tuesday in a hectic stretch for both sides. New York has one less day of recovery and has had to travel from the west coast which could play favorably into Chicago's favor.

A 4-2 loss in Seattle on Thursday night was only a continuance of New York's problems on defense.

The Fire played to yet another 0-0 draw for their tenth tie of the season. Neither team created many opportunities and Real Salt Lake failed to even register a shot on goal in the second half. The New York match on Sunday will mark the half way point of the MLS season and it still seems that we're still not exactly sure what this team is capable of accomplishing.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Paladini, Husidic, Nyarko

F Chaves, Barouch

Bench : Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Pappa, Videira, Ferrari

RSL

GK Rimando

D Russell, Olave, Borchers, Beltran

M Grabavoy, Beckerman, Warner, Johnson

F Espindola, Aghasyan

Bench : Reynish, McKenzie, Schuler, Gil, Gonzalez, Williams, Toia

After losing to Monterrey at home in the final leg of the CONCACAF Champion's League Final on April 27 Real Salt Lake has not looked like the same team that was considered to be the class of MLS by many observers at the beginning of the season, myself included. A bit of a let down could be expected after the loss to Monterrey and it did come in the form of a 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers on the road.

MLS has announced a two game ban and $500 for Cristian Nazirit as a result of what MLS deemed as "play that endangered the safety of his opponent in the 59th minute" of the New England match this past weekend. Nazirit received a yellow card for an elbow/forearm thrown near the head of Revolution defender Franco Coria.

Starting Line Ups

Fire GK Johnson D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares M Nyarko, Pause, Husidic, Oduro F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Ristic, Robinson, Bone, Paladini, Barouch, Ferrari

Revolution GK Reis D Barnes, Coria, Soares, Alston M Tierney, Joseph, Phelan, Nyassi F Mansally, Lekic

Bench : Shuttleworth, Loewy, Guy, Kinne, Schilawski, Sousa, McCarthy

A second consecutive match on the road against an Eastern Conference rival offers the Fire an opportunity to get back in the thick of the playoff race with a result against a team that sits in a tie with them on fourteen points. New England has struggled this season with a 3-7-5 record and only 11 goals scored.

The US Soccer Soccer Federation has announced the possible third round pairings for all eight remaining MLS clubs still alive in the US Open Cup tournament. The Fire will play the winner of next Tuesday's match between the Rochester Rhinos and Harrisburg City Islanders to be held in Harrisburg, Penn.

This week's early injury report includes an upgrade to Josip Mikulic's status. The defender returned to full training yesterday while Marko Maric resumed light running on the side. Steven Kinney and Mike Banner worked on the side as well but did not train.

CHICAGO FIRE -- OUT: MF Mike Banner (L Achilles tendinitis); DF Steven Kinney (R Achilles tendinitis); DOUBTFUL: MF Marko Maric (L deltoid ligament sprain); PROBABLE: DF Josip Mikulic (L clavicle fracture)

USOC

The Chicago Fire PDL advanced to the second round of the USOC by defeating the Des Moines Menace 1-0 last night.

On a weekend chock full of late game heroics the Fire chipped in with a big victory of their own fueled by a 90th minute score by Cristian Nazirit. After 89 minutes of generally outplaying the Crew in Columbus a third consecutive 0-0 draw almost seemed certain. Particularly after Orr Barouch managed to find the post yet again in the 79th minute.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Husidic, Nyarko

F Puerari, Chaves

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Ristic, Paladini, Bone, Barouch, Nazirit

Crew

GK Hesmer

D Miranda, Marshall, James, Gardner

M Balchan, Ekpo, Gaven, Meram

F Mendoza, Cunningham

Bench : Gruenebaum, Iro, Veeder, Burns, Gehrig, Rusmir, Horton

Travelling to Columbus for the second match in four days, the Fire will face an opponent that will certainly be a challenger for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Despite cleaning house and releasing many of their most reliable veteran players after last season, Columbus is still currently eight points ahead of the Fire in the standings.

The eighth and ninth place teams in the Eastern Conference played exactly like you would expect the eighth and ninth place teams in the Eastern Conference to play a Thurday night match. It wasn't pretty for either side as bad passing, conservative play, too many long balls, another crossbar, and a possible missed penalty call were the highlights of the night for the Fire.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Puerari, Nazarit

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Chaves, Videira, Barouch

SKC

GK Nielsen

D Harrington, Besler, Collin, Myers

M Sassano, Arnaud, Bravo

F Kamara, Bunbury, Smith

Bench : Kronberg, Diop, Stojcev, Zusi, Cesar, Sinovic, Sapong

Two teams with one win a piece after a combined 21 games played isn't exactly a marquee match up but a national audience will get to see the opening of another soccer specific stadium in Kansas City's Livestrong Sporting Park. It seems that every new stadium opening in MLS is more impressive than the last, which is something that will serve the league well in general audience perception for national broadcasts.

An interesting bit of news surfaced a few days ago when Club America's coach Carlos Reinoso mentioned that midfielder Pavel Pardo was not likely to return to the Mexican side for their upcoming Apertura season. America begins pre-season training shortly and Reinoso was not certain of Pardo's status saying ".

The Chicago Fire announced today that there will no new Ring of Fire inductee this season. From the Fire's press release:

"After consultation with the six current "Ring of Fire" members, the Chicago Fire will not induct a new member to the "Ring of Fire" in 2011. Only six former Men in Red have been bestowed the prestigious "Ring of Fire" honor to date.

After an entertaining first half from both sides the Fire ultimately concluded another match at home in much the same fashion as the previous four games at Toyota Park, without a full three points. That's not to say there weren't positives to be taken away because there were. Set piece defending was much improved after an emphasis was placed on improving the way the team approaches dead balls during the week.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Anibaba, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Barouch, Puerari

Sounders

GK Keller

D Riley, Parke, Kennedy-Hurtado, Wahl

M Rosales, Evans, Alonso, Neagle

F Fucito, Jaqua

Bench : Boss, Gonzalez, Ianni, Scott, Carrasco, Levesque, Montero

Heading into the rematch of a game they probably should have won in Seattle, the Fire's first game under interim coach Frank Klopas isn't an easy one. Seattle snapped Real Salt Lake's 29 game MLS undefeated string at Rio Tinto Stadium last weekend. Seattle did benefit from a red card to Jamison Olave in the 58th minute and the fact that they caught RSL at the right time during a down period without playmaker Javier Morales.

Fire owner Andrew Hauptman remains optimistic about the club's chances to compete for a playoff position this season despite the team's 1-4-6 start and feels that under the direction of interim coach Frank Klopas the team can improve. Hauptman was also complimentary of now former coach Carlos De Los Cobos although his hiring ultimately did not work out.

The Fire have announced that the team has loaned defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe to the NASL's FC Tampa Bay for the remainder of the 2011 season. The second year center back had fallen behind Josip Mikulic, Cory Gibbs, Yamith Cuesta, and Dasan Robinson for playing time at the position but has seen some action in reserve matches.

With Marco Pappa playing for Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup during the month of June the Fire will be without their leading scoring (tied with 4) and arguably most dynamic player for at least three matches. This Saturday's match against Seattle, the stadium opener in Kansas City on 6/9, and the road game in Columbus on 6/12 are all matches that are certain to be Pappa-less for the Fire.

Frank Klopas wrapped up his first training session as the "interim head coach" of the Chicago Fire this morning by answering questions regarding the immediate future and direction of the team after yesterday's dismissal of Carlos De Los Cobos. Klopas explained that the move was a "soccer decision" and was not an easy move to make considering that as Technical Director, De Los Cobos was his choice in January 2010.

The Chicago Fire have fired head coach Carlos De Los Cobos after 41 games at the helm in just over one season. A disappointing May that appeared promising at first glance was apparently the last opportunity for De Los Cobos to maintain his position for the rest of the campaign.

Technical Director Frank Klopas will assume the coaching duties effective immediately and will address the media after training tomorrow morning at Toyota Park.

Another day, another draw. With the season roughly one-third of the way complete the Fire have managed only one MLS victory. That in and of itself isn't the most frustrating part of the campaign to date. The gnawing part is that the Fire really haven't played all that badly as a whole thoughout the first eleven matches.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Segares, Cuesta, Gibbs, Ristic

M Pappa, Paladini, Pause, Oduro

F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Pantazopoulos, Robinson, Bone, Husidic, Barouch, Puerari

Earthquakes

GK Busch

D Convey, Hernandez, Opara, Beitashour

M Corales, Stephenson, Ring, Gjertsen

F Lenhart, Wondolowski

Bench : Weber, Burling, McDonald, Ampaipitakwong, Cronin, Morrow, McLoughlin

The Fire is hoping that Tuesday's penalty kick victory over the Earthquakes will serve as a spring board to a reversal of fortunes. Despite advancing to the US Open Cup tournament for a fourteenth consecutive season the Fire are still winless in their last eight MLS regualr season matches. After a difficult start of the their own, winning only once in their first eight matches, San Jose has won it's last two at home against Columbus and New England allowing them to crawl back towards respectability.

The Fire broke what seemed like a season long winless drought with a dramatic victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. The victor was decided after an additional thirty minutes of play and six penalty kick rounds. Daniel Paladini converted the deciding kick as Scott Sealy missed his chance for San Jose.

The Fire will need a win tonight to avoid missing the knock out stages of US Open Cup play for the first time ever in franchise history. This game, along with the previous win against Colorado are considered "play in" games and not part of the tournament proper.

San Jose manager Frank Yallop says he's going for the win with his best line up.

A round up of some of today's headlines:

Gold Cup

Marco Pappa has been called up for the Guatemalan National team so it is likely that he will miss most of the Fire's games in June. Seattle 6/4, at Kansas City 6/9, at Columbus 6/12, at New England 6/18, and Real Salt Lake on 6/22 are all games that could see the Fire without their leading scorer over the last two seasons.

The worst start in club history continues to get worse as a promising fixture list during the month of May has yielded only two points with one match remaining. In increasingly frustrating fashion the Fire didn't play a terrible game and the effort on the pitch was commendable but the results continue to mount against them.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Conway

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Paladini, Bone, Pappa, Oduro, Husidic

F Chaves

Subs: Johnson, Robinson, Anibaba, Pause, Puerari, Barouch, Nazirit

Union

GK Mondragon

D Williams, Califf, Valdes, Harvey

M Carroll, Okugo, Mapp, M.

Philadelphia got off to a hot start on the season with three wins in their first four matches but have since then come back to the pack. The source of their problems lies in the offensive third. The Union have managed to score only six goals on the year and two of those were of the give-away/gift variety.