Six teams qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa today, finalizing the field that will compete in the first World Cup in African soil.

France, Slovenia, Uruguay, Portugal, Greece and Algeria advanced to the finals ending the dreams of Ireland, Russia, Costa Rica, Ukraine and Egypt in the process.

It's pretty easy to see why this season was a frustrating one for Fire defender Gonzalo Segares. After being a stalwart in the backline for years for the Fire, Segares was forced to the sidelines this year, only playing in 12 regular season games due to a combination of injuries and national team call-ups.

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.

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).

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.

As I'm sure all of you know the Fire has this weekend off. But despite the lack of Chicago-related MLS action to look forward to, this weekend should be a great one for soccer fans in the Second City as CONCACAF kicks off its penultimate round of World Cup Qualifying. The CONCACAF race is currently down to four teams: the U.

Here are a few quick notes that are making news in the world of the Fire/MLS today. Better late than never right? Injury Updates: A few Fire players have been struggling with injuries for the past couple weeks and while some of them could return this Saturday against Toronto, the news isn't very good for others.

Just a few quick updates on the injury situations of Gonzalo Segares and John Thorrington to keep your day moving along... Gonzalo Segares - Segares, who has been out with a sprained left MCL since August 9th, told me last week that he was targeting this Saturday's game against Toronto FC for his return and it appears that he will be available right on schedule.

Fire defender Tim Ward, who hasn't played since he broke a toe on his left foot way back in the SuperLiga final against Tigres, will undergo surgery today to fully repair the injury. Apparently, Ward's recovery from the injury wasn't going as well as the Fire would have liked and they decided on Saturday that it would be best for Ward to go in for an operation.

Hey everyone, hope your Thursday is going well. I caught up with the recently returned Gonzalo Segares and Logan Pause (both players had been with their national teams since the end of June for the Gold Cup) at yesterday's practice and did a little group interview with them. Check it out below...