Djibril Cisse (daft barber not pictured)

2007/8 Review

In their first season back in the top flight, Sunderland did just enough to survive. Although he did perhaps make a miscue or two, much credit can be attributed Roy Keane's transfer policy for maintaining Sunderland's Premiership status. Click to continue reading...

Concluding the preview of the CONCACAF semifinal round with Group C. This group contains Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti and Suriname. This group can be summarized in four words: Costa Rica got lucky. Considering that this is a national team in transition, that could not win a friendly match for a year, and escaped a major upset against Grenada, Costa Rica have been gifted a very manageable group. Click to continue reading...

The sun was in my eyes before the game tonite when I predicted the Fire to win. It was really windy and my fingers were slipping all over the keyboard. That was an accident that I said I predicted the Fire to win.

How about that goal scored by TT, was that the goal of the year?

So Blanco - his main job was to tell the ref what was going on, and he was pretty busy with that one.

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I liked this one by Fire blogger Luis Arroyave on Wanchope's performance with the team so far.

I'm not ready to call Wanchope a bust -- he has only been with the Fire a third of the season. But I still haven't figured out how a guy scores two goals against Germany in Germany but can't score against the Columbus Crew.

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Last night was my first chance to see Blanco, Denilson and Wanchope in action as the Chicago Fire traveled to Pizza Hut Park to take on FC Dallas. This was a big game for both teams as the Fire are fighting for the last playoff spot and FC Dallas would like to get back up to the top of the Western Division.

Chicago has been on a good run recently and FC Dallas has been on a bit of a slide since their wonderful start to the season.

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Pescadito at the death steals two points from the Fire. For the life of me, I can't figure out how the Hoops didn't wipe the pepperoni-ladden pitch with Osorio's ancient assemblage of past their sell-by date CONCACAF stars (Blanco, Wanchope, Armas). Sure the Fire were organized, but they were also glacial, and a quick team like Dallas should really be exploiting that more effectively. Click to continue reading...

I think...wait...did I? Yeah. I did. I think I enjoyed the Columbus Crew's unfortunate loss to the Chicago Fire. It wasn't a graceful thing, but it did interesting things to the standings (hello, five Eastern Conference teams) and gave a fair representation of how the two sides stack up. It also revealed why I resist [...] Click to continue reading...

Sometimes, good things should simply be shared and appreciated.

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Wanchope With City/ BBC Sport

Former Derby County and Man City attacker Paulo Wanchope who has scored in the past two World Cups for Costa Rica has signed with the Chicago Fire of MLS. Wanchope joins former City First Team Coach Juan Carlos Osorio who now is the Fire's manager at Toyota Park. Wanchope actually went to high school in Los Angeles and was recruited to play Basketball by several top American College programs before returning to Costa Rica and then eventually moving to the EPL to pursue a footballing career. Click to continue reading...

It is expected that Paulo Wanchope will officially join the Chicago Fire. He reportedly passed his medical exam and has agreed to terms for a one year deal with the Fire.

Wanchope is a 31 year old Costa Rican striker that will bring a lot of experience and goal scoring power to the team. He is the 2nd all time scorer for the Costa Rican national team.

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The Fire are looking to beef up their very thin attack with the signing of Paulo Wanchope. Wanchope is one of the best strikers ever produced by Costa Rica and at the age of 30, still has a number of quality years ahead of him. However, Wanchope does have a history of under performing as seen by his recent release from FC Tokyo.

If this does happen, it will be up to new Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorioto make this happen. Click to continue reading...