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The Chicago Fire won their fourth U.S. Open Championship and hoisted the Dewar Cup after defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 on Wednesday night. In winning this game, the Fire continue a perfect 12-0 home record in U.S. Open competition. The Fire are also the most successful MLS team in U.S. Open Cup history, winning four titles and owning a 24-5-2 record.
The Fire continued to play a dominating style of soccer in which each ball was contested, with most contests won by the Fire. They used precision passing to control the ball and the run of play. It only took ten minutes for the Fire to get on the board when a diving Nate Jaqua was able to put his head on the ball and knock it past L.A. Galaxy Keeper Kevin Hartman. Just six minutes later, Andy Herron uncharacteristically used his head to score the second goal of the match. This goal was Herron's 10th in just twelve games.
In the second half, a desperate Los Angeles Galaxy began to push players forward to try to get back into the game. The Galaxy ended up outshooting the Fire 14-10. In the 52nd minute, L.A. striker Alan Gordon scored a goal for the Galaxy, keeping their hopes alive. But that was the only goal Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens was to let through the rest of the night. The Fire got an insurance goal from late-second-half sub Thiago. The Fire continue to produce multiple goals while their back line and goalkeeper limit opponents to a single goal.
The Chicago Fire sang and danced with their fans in every corner of Toyota Park after the game, making a special point to visit their diehard Section 8 Fans that sit in the North End of the stadium. Tomorrow, the team returns to practice to start training for the remainder of the season and the Major League Soccer Playoffs.
Chicagoist has uploaded a few videos of the celebration with fans and with their trophy to YouTube and photos from the game to Flickr.
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Go Fire! It was a shame that this game wasn't on a reasonable cable channel--I know it was on Fox Soccer Channel, but who the hell gets that?
SOunds like they had a better day yesterday than FC Barcelona!
Oh, one other thing--they actually reported on the US Open Cup Final on the BBC last night--that was how I learned that the Fire won. The Beeb had a coorespondent at Toyota Park!
You have to pay for a special "sports tier" to get Fox Soccer Channel from Comcast for $5 a month. Not a bad deal, but you're right, some local channel like CLTV or WCIU could have picked up the game.
Your not kidding about a bad day for Barcelona.
Why are we all complaining about the poor TV rights. We know soccer means nothing to the masses in the states. We should instead be kicking ourselves for not being at this game in person last night.
I bet, though, that it's a similar issue to the Cubs and Sox. The Cubs' popularity comes (in large part) from being shown on broadcast tv all the time all across the US on WGN. The Sox... well they're the main reason I bough cable to begin with a few years ago. The Sox fought their way into better coverage and are now more popular. If the Fire got picked up by the kind of network they deserve--especially for important games like this--they'd probably be more popular due to the exposure alone.
that's a pretty big trophy for joke soccer.
I agree with BarcaFan, it was a shame more fans didn't come to the game. There were just over 8,000 ... for a championship game, that's just not a good crowd.
For those that were there, we were treated to an amazing atmosphere and a great game.
Why are we all complaining about the poor TV rights. We know soccer means nothing to the masses in the states. We should instead be kicking ourselves for not being at this game in person last night.
Perhaps--I have been to two games this year. The main problem for me is the location. It's in the middle of nowhere and you can't get there (reasonably) on public transit.
I can understand why they built it out there--Bridgeview subsidized the place heavily--but it is a pain in the ass to get there.
Additionally, the "neighborhood" is non-existent. I know that the Village is counting on the stadium for economic development in the area--but at this point it is a pit.
Also, $15 for parking is extremely lame, given the location. And the food sucks!
Nevertheless, Go Fire!
I agree they charge way to much for parking and the drive is a pain on weeknights but for weekend games I find it only takes 20-30 minutes to get there.
If you live anywhere near North Center I suggest taking the Globe Pub bus to your next fire game. It is cheaper than parking and you can enjoy a beer or two on the way to the game.
Indeed a great game. The downside to front row center tickets? When the camera guy is stationed right in front of you. But since it was a light crowd, I ended up with decent seats anyway just by hopping around a bit :-)