THOUGHTS ON THE FIRE GAME: Let’s set aside what went on with the crowd for a moment. For the second straight league home match, the Fire lost to a team who had just one road win coming in. They Fire are simply not good enough to afford to switch off. A turnover by Diego Campos led to a goal and his substitution two minutes later. Richard Sanchez came off his line to meet Jonathan Osorio and did not get the ball while Osorio got a tap-in.
This is a by-product of the Fire’s failure to sufficiently add depth to the squad at the start of the year. Raheem Edwards, Nicolas Del Grecco, and Nicolas Hasler can become serviceable and Michael de Leeuw and Djordje Mihailovic can return to form quickly, but it may be all too late to make the playoffs. The more the Fire lose, the more the US Open Cup becomes everything and the more everything will hit the fan if the Fire do not win on August 8th.
FIRE AWAY TO PHILADELPHIA: The Fire will go to Talen Energy Stadium on Wednesday, August 8th for a 6pm kickoff as the semifinal draw was made at Soccer House today. Houston will host LAFC in the other semifinal. Should the Fire win, they would host the Final on October 3rd. If Philadelphia win, they will travel to the winner of the Houston-LAFC semifinal on September 26th.
RED STARS QUARTET NAMED TO US SQUAD: The usual suspects for the Red Stars—goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, midfielders Morgan Brian and Julie Ertz, and defender Casey Short—were named to Jill Ellis’ final squad for the Tournament of Nations starting on Thursday. The USA will play Japan in Kansas City at 6pm, then play Australia in Hartford at 6pm CT on Sunday, and then play Brazil at Toyota Park at 7:30pm on August 3rd. All three matches will be on FS1.
SUPPORTERS GROUP STATEMENT: Section 8 has released a statement stating the efforts continue to reinstate Sector Latino and other season ticket holders in Section 101 who had their tickets revoked due to what the club has said were repeated violations of the MLS Fan Code of Conduct.
“As independent representatives of all Fire supporters, the ISA [Independent Supporters Association] rejects the discriminatory ban of former ticket holders in Section 101. The actions that Nelson Rodriguez and the Fire management have taken serves only to severely erode the collaborative spirit and trust between supporters and management that this club was built on. We seek a return to the trusting relationship between the community and the team that once made Chicago Fire S.C. a flagship team in a young league,” says Section 8 Chicago chair, Dan Giroux, in the statement.
Fans marched to Section 101 during the final ten minutes of the match and allege security at the game manhandled a fan who was in Section 102 mistakenly thinking he was part of the trouble. The ISA has requested a formal meeting with the front office about that event as well as work towards a resolution for Section 101.
Chicago Fire
