Tribune News Services
The United States fell flat in Europe once again, losing to the
Netherlands 2-1 Wednesday night Amsterdam in the Americans' last match before
coach Bob Bradley picks his World Cup roster.
Dirk Kuyt converted a penalty kick in the 40th minute after
Jonathan Bornstein pushed Wesley Sneijder in the penalty area.
Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar scored in the 73rd minute with a shot that
deflected off Bornstein and left goalkeeper Tim Howard with no chance
to stop it.
U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra, a former Fire star, scored in the 88th minute. He beat
Maarten Stekelenburg to the 6-yard box to head in DaMarcus Beasley's
35-yard free kick.
Beasley, another former Fire standout, entered in the 34th minute after Stuart Holden limped off
with a bruised shin sustained from a hard tackle by Nigel de Jong.
Tribune News Services
Former Fire star and Czech international Lubos Kubik, who played against the United
States at the 1990 World Cup, has been hired as an assistant coach of
the American national team.
Kubik fills a spot that had been open since May, when Peter Nowak
resigned to become coach of Major League Soccer's new team,
Philadelphia Union.
Kubik scored 13 goals in 56 appearances for Czechoslovakia and the
Czech Republic from 1985-97. He joined MLS's Fire in 1998, when
U.S. national coach Bob Bradley coached the team, and was Nowak's top assistant with the 2008
U.S. Olympic team.
The 46-year-old Kubik lives in Pardubice, Czech Republic.
The Fire waived defenders Austin Washington and Daniel Woolard on Monday.
Washington was drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft and appeared in nine games in two years with the club. Woolard was drafted in the fourth round of the 2007 MLS supplemental draft. In three seasons with the Fire, Woolard appeared in 16 games, starting six.
Also Monday, the Fire said it will face 11-time Mexican Primera Division champions Chivas de Guadalajara in a closed-door exhibition match Thursday and will play a second exhibition while in Mexico on March 3 against an opponent to be named.
Tribune News Services
Former Fire forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco is among 18 players
selected by Mexico coach Javier Aguirre for next Wednesday's exhibition
against Bolivia in San Francisco.
The 37-year-old Blanco, who moved to second-division team Veracruz this
season, played for El Tri in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups but was
bypassed for the 2006 roster.
Aguirre also selected 21-year-old forward Javier Hernandez, who
scored eight goals in the first five games for Chivas Guadalajara.
Only Mexico-based players were picked. El Tri then faces New
Zealand in Pasadena, Calif., on March 3, when European clubs are
required to release players to national teams.
Forward Calen Carr, who missed much of the 2008 and '09 seasons because of injuries, has re-signed with the Fire for a fifth Major League Soccer season, the team announced.
Per team and league policies, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Carr has appeared in 68 games over four seasons and scored six goals with three assists. A recurring knee injury limited Carr to 19 games and 364 minutes over the last two seasons. Carr contributed three goals to help the Fire win the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Championship and has played in five MLS Cup playoff games.
Staff report
Jesse Marsch, an original member of the Chicago Fire, retired from Major League Soccer on Friday to take an assistant coaching position with the U.S. national soccer team.
Marsch was one of three active players left from MLS's inaugural season in 1996 and had been a midfielder with Chivas USA the past four seasons. He also played for D.C. United during his 14-year career.
In eight seasons with the Fire, he helped the team to the 1998 MLS Cup title, the team's first year in the league.
Marsch will be reunited with former Fire coach Bob Bradley, who now heads the national team.
By Jack McCarthy
They're still getting acquainted, but new Fire coach Carlos de los Cobos and his players like what they see so far.
"The philosophy he keeps talking about is something any player would be excited to be a part of," veteran Brian McBride said following a Wednesday workout. "Everyone's going to have to work hard, but he wants everyone to enjoy what they're doing, but also be passionate."
Twenty-seven players participated in light drills for two and half hours on the artificial turf at the McCook Athletic and Exposition center.
Staff report
The Mexican national soccer team will play a World Cup tuneup May 10 against Senegal at Soldier Field.
The 8 p.m. game will be part of a six-match U.S. tour in preparation for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Mexico opens against the host nation on June 11.
This will be Mexico's first visit to Chicago since its 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal vs. Costa Rica in July 2009. It will be first time that Mexico and Senegal have met and the first time Senegal will play on U.S. soil.
Staff report
The Fire has acquired 22-year-old former Real Madrid reserve defender Krzysztof Krol on loan from Jagiellonia Białystok of the Ekstraklasa League of Poland, the team announced Wednesday. Per league policy, terms of the contract were not released.
Krol joined Jagiellonia Bialystok during the 2008-09 season after playing for the Real Madrid reserve team from 2006-08. Krol was named to Ekstraklasa's best player of the month list four times.
"Krzysztof is a solid defender who will make an immediate impact on the team with his style of play," Fire technical director Frank Klopas said. "We are very excited to have him join the club's roster and have the kind of impact on the Fire that he did with Jagiellonia."
Staff report
Midfielder Julio Martinez, who played for the El Salvadoran national team in 2009 under Carlos de los Cobos, will be reunited with the new Fire coach on loan from Club León FC of Mexico's Second Division, the team announced today.
Per MLS policy, terms of the contract were not released.
"Julio is a true professional with a winner's mentality who will come in and help our team," de los Cobos said. "I could not be happier about his signing and look forward to incorporating him in with the rest of the guys."
Martinez, 24, contributed two goals to help the El Salvadoran national team reach the last phase of CONCACAF's qualifying stage for the 2010 World Cup.
Staff report
First the Olympics snub, and now this: Chicago is not on the list of 18 cities that U.S. Soccer's bid committee will submit to FIFA in its efforts to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
After an eight-month host city selection process, the committee Tuesday announced the list of cities that will be included in its official bid book to FIFA on May 14. The cities chosen were Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver,
Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New
York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington,
D.C.
By Jack McCarthy
The Fire reached into the international coaching ranks Monday, naming former El Salvador national chief Carlos de los Cobos as the franchise's fifth head coach.
De los Cobos, 51, brings more than 30 years of experience as a player and coach in Mexico and Central America. He succeeds Denis Hamlett, who coached the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
"After viewing tapes and seeing (Fire) games, I was able to see a lot
of the characteristics of the team from the last couple of seasons," de los Cobos said during a news conference at Toyota Park. "I
consider it a solid team, one that was well-ordered and played a very
direct game, very frontal game and was very organized from the back.
The defense was very strong."
Staff report
Midfielder Marco Pappa, who emerged as a rising young star for the Fire last season, will return next season in a deal to be announced today.
Pappa, 21,had five goals and four assists in 30 games last season. He had been on loan to the Fire and MLS from CSD Municipal and the league exercised its option to retain him.
Pappa now is under contract to the Fire through the 2012 season.
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