The Chicago Fire removed the interim tag from Frank Klopas and named him the team's new head coach. more ›

Coming into the match, the Fire had just set the unenviable league record of 15 ties in a season. more ›

The Fire's 1-4-6 start to the season led to the firing of coach Carlos de los Cobos yesterday. more ›

A series of easy mistakes and minor breakdowns led to the Chicago Fire's 2-1 loss to the L.A. Galaxy Sunday at Toyota Park. Despite lacking in their usual star power, the Los Angeles (3-1-1) squad was able to capitalize on the Fire's errors, netting two goals before Chicago (1-1-3) made it to the board. more ›

So it's a team in flux. It's a team without a go-to guy. New leaders will emerge, they must. Fans are looking especially towards new captain Logan Pause and break out goalie star Sean Johnson (who got his first cap in January against Chile). But who's going to get that critical goal in a tight game? Can Marco Pappa, Calen Carr, and/or Patrick Nyarko make the jump from quick skillsters to menacing poachers? more ›

What a season. The Fire were eliminated from playoff contention this weekend, and in a season full of weird, ironic, unexpected twists, it was almost unsurprising that they got eliminated after their best game of the year. Against a solid Columbus team (who, granted, already qualified for the playoffs), it looked like Coach Carlos de los Cobos finally found a way to blend the new signings, the youth, and the veterans. As you can see from the highlights above, the Fire bossed the game from the start. more ›

The Fire head into Philly tomorrow afternoon (5PM CST/ FSC) to check out the expansion Union and the new PPL stadium. Philly is racked with injuries all over the place, especially in defense, and hopefully Fire midfielders and whoever starts up top (probably John again) can take advantage this time. Marco Pappa's return should help connect the midfield to attack, too. Last time the two played, the Fire beat Peter Nowak's squad 2-1. This time there's another former Fire staple representing Philly - surely Justin Mapp will want to show the Fire they made a mistake in letting him go. more ›

Alright here's the thing. Over the past few disappointing weeks, it seemed as if the Fire (6-7-7) have done everything they could to blow their shot at the playoffs. They give up late goals, they give up soft goals on set pieces, they make bad decisions, and they don't collect full points at home. But - BUT - despite all that, despite sitting in 11th place at the moment, they can still make the playoffs. And everybody knows that once you're in, anything is possible. more ›

White Sox Sweep Double-Header With Red Sox more ›

Fire fans are thanking God their road trip is over. Going into Houston and Seattle (highlights above) is never easy, but giving up points the way they did - conceding late goals in 4-3 and 2-1 losses - is just devastating. more ›

Chicago's soccer fans may have a home team to root for, but finding places to congregate and catch the game (other than Toyota Park) can be a bit of task. Baseball, football, basketball and now even hockey fans have their pick of the city when it comes to finding fan-friendly bars showing their game of choice. Soccer die-hards don't have it quite as easy (though spots like The Globe Pub and the Small Bar franchise have carved out dedicated niches) when it comes to finding a bar to call their own, but Chicago Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas hopes that will change with the new soccer-centric sports pub, The Pitch. more ›

Ever since our season preview this spring, we've maintained that the Fire have enough talent to succeed this year. The issue was whether the talent, and first year coach Carlos de los Cobos, could harmonize to get the most as a team. With much hyped midseason moves that brought even more talent to the squad now behind us, the harmonizing question is more pressing than ever. The chemistry, the formation, and the starting lineup have all been tweaked in the weeks since the All-Star break, but, besides an explosive opening half in Los Angeles, nothing's really clicked. more ›

Well, that was sort of a bummer. Despite an amped crowd of 21,868 - the biggest in Toyota Park history - the Fire’s 0-0 tie against the New York Red Bulls last night failed to live up to its hype. Thanks to a combination of 90 degree heat, some rusty legs, and a lack of cohesion between new players and regulars, we didn’t get the explosion of quality we had hoped for. Still, there was a lot to learn from the game, both from a Fire and a MLS perspective. more ›

We discussed Freddie Ljungberg, the Fire’s other major midseason addition, earlier today. more ›

Just as Chicago kisses so many pieces of the Stanley Cup champs goodbye, the Chicago Fire have added some serious firepower for the second half of the season in hopes of emulating the success of the Blackhawks and bringing home some silverware. With the addition of two designated players Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg and Nerry Castillo, they’ve suddenly become, on paper at least, a contender. Granted, Ljungberg is far, far past his prime and Castillo has had his own issues, but if coach Carlos de los Cobos can conjure a way to fit them in with the Brian Mcbride, Collins John, Baggio Husidic, Marco Pappa, and Patrick Nyarko offensive core we started the season with, the Fire have a real shot. Here’s some background on Ljungberg. We'll have a post on Castillo later today. more ›

We at Chicagoist have nothing but love for our hometown MLS squad, the Fire, so we were positively geeked when they asked us to participate in the team's annual media game at Toyota Park Wednesday. Chicago media personalities, including folks from The Trib, The Sun-Times, Univision, Fox Chicago and WBBM, played alongside Chicago Fire staff for the abbreviated 40-minute friendly, with the Red and White teams competing for a mini cup that Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas jokingly assured us was "solid gold." more ›

The Chicago Fire returned from the MLS' World Cup-associated break in winning fashion, beating the New England Revolution 1-0. In the 30th minute, Marco Pappa took a Dasan Robinson pass and buried a shot from 30 yards away, scoring the game's only goal. It looked like the Fire had extended their lead to 2-0 after Brian McBride's header off a Pappa corner kick appeared to have crossed the goal line before being cleared by a New England defender, but the refs said it was no-goal, keeping the score at 1-0. It's the second win in three MLS matches for the Fire who extend their unbeaten streak to five MLS matches now, a big step forward after they struggled through May without any win. more ›

The Chicago Fire's Sister Cities International Cup starts tonight, and here's the deal: Tonight, the Fire play Paris Saint-Germain at Toyota Park at 7 PM, and Legia Warsaw play Red Star Belgrade right after. On Saturday, the two losers play at 6 PM at Toyota Park, and the winners play for the Cup right after. Bam. more ›

After taking just one point from their first two games (0-1-1), Soccernet ranked the Fire 9th in their power rankings. That's about right. They've had to play two solid teams in two difficult stadiums (highlights vs. NY here and vs. Colorado here), but most of all the squad is still only just getting settled. On Saturday, the San Jose Earthquakes (0-1-0) come to Toyota Park for the home opener at 7:30. The Fire will hope that they've settled enough to give the home fans a show against SJE, who got torn apart last week by defending MLS champs Real Salt Late. more ›

There are no box scores to link to today as none of Chicago's teams were in action last night. However, there's plenty of sports news to go around. more ›

While the Cubs and Sox sat out October baseball, the Chicago Fire joined the Bulls and Blackhawks as another of the city's teams looking to make a splash in their league's post-season action in 2009. The soggy conditions at Toyota Park didn't dampen the Fire's spirits as they celebrated not only a 1-0 victory over Chivas USA, but also clinching a spot in the MLS playoffs. The Fire's goal came in the 67th minute when Chivas' Eduardo Lillingston attempted to clear a Blanco cornerkick but since the ball into his own goal instead. In spite of awful conditions, the Fire still got plenty of chances, taking 14 corner kicks and 13 shots, though only two of those were officially credited as shots on goal. Goalie Jon Busch had three saves in the winning effort. more ›

D.C. United only got two shots on goal against the Chicago Fire in yesterday's match, but they made the most of those opportunities, scoring the game's only goal en route to a 1-0 victory over the Fire. The Fire had six shots on goal but couldn't convert any of them into points on the scoreboard. The Fire, who remain in second place in the MLS's Eastern Conference, get a breather next week before their September 12 at Real Salt Lake. more ›

The Chicago Fire rallied from an early two goal deficit but weren't able to hold as the Houston Dynamo edged Chicago 3-2 on Sunday. Houston took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Kei Kamara and Ricardo Clark. But the Fire came out hot in the second half, scoring a pair of goals in the first five minutes (Chris Rolfe and Peter Lowry). But in the 83rd minute, Stuart Holden netted a penalty kick for Houston that put the Dynamo up for good and costing the Fire a point and a chance to close in on first-place Columbus. Next up for the Fire in MLS action is a trip next Sunday to Kansas City. more ›

The Chicago Fire dispatched the New England Revolution 2-1 last night in Foxboro, earning themselves a trip to the 2009 SuperLiga final. Cuauhtemoc Blanco led the way for Chicago with an assist to Brian McBride in the 34th minute to give the Fire a 1-0 lead. Then Blanco netted an unassisted goal in the 63rd minute to break a 1-1 tie and put the Fire ahead for good. Keeper Jon Busch played outstanding for the Fire, stopping 8 of 9 shots on goal fired by New England. The Revolution - the defending SuperLiga champs - were also a bit short-handed as suspensions, injuries, and other duties kept seven players off their roster for this match. Still, there's nothing to take away from the Fire, who earned the right to host the August 5th SuperLiga final against Tigres UANL. Fire coach Coach Dennis Hamlett said after the game, "You need big plays to win and our big players stepped up and made great plays." more ›

The Chicago Fire's hopes for another MLS title came to an end in Columbus last night as the Crew out-dueled the Fire 2-1 in the MLS Eastern Conference final. Brian McBride scored in the 29th minute on an impressive header to give the Fire a 1-0 edge, but the Crew scored twice in the second half (49th and 55th minute) to take the lead, one they wouldn't relinquish. It was a bittersweet experience for McBride who spent many years in Columbus yellow. The Fire had some late chances, but a fourth trip to the MLS Cup Final wasn't in the cards. Goalkeeper Jon Busch was upbeat after the loss, saying, "We gave a good effort. They have a very good team. We had our chances and they had theirs. We gave them too many chances. The first goal took a little air out of us. I can't say enough good things about these guys. We just had those two lapses." more ›

On a night that the #3 of Pierre Pilote and Keith Magnuson, two great Blackhawk defensemen, was retired, the Blackhawks fought hard in a defensive struggle, but dropped the game to Boston in a shootout, 2-1. The teams went almost two complete periods without scoring, but Boston's Marco Sturm tipped in a power play goal in the closing seconds of the second. Jonathon Toews scored the equalizer for the Blackhawks in the middle of the third period on a power play and a scoreless overtime sent the game to a shootout that Boston won 2 goals to 1 to take the win. In spite of the loss, Nikolai Khabibulin had a fantastic night in net, stopping 38 of 39 shots. Coach Quenneville said of the goalie, “Khabibulin had a special night for us. He gave us a chance to win.” Patrick Kane added, “We were on the penalty kill for two minutes [in overtime]. Khabi stood on his head.” more ›

Thanks to a 0-0 tie in the first game of their aggregate playoff series with the New England Revolution, all the Chicago Fire had to do was win to advance to round two. And win they did, topping the Rev 3-0 Thursday night at The Camry in front of a crowd of over 17,000. Chris Rolfe scored the first goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half, taking advantage of a loose rebound after Rev goalie Matt Reis had to stretch to stop a Blanco shot. At the beginning of the second half, in the 49th minute, defenseman Wilman Conde scored off a free kick by Justin Mapp. Rolfe also got an assist on a nice pass to Gonzalo Segares, whose goal in the 74th minute clinched the game for Chicago. It was an intense, physical game which saw 21 fouls and six misconducts, including a red card on New England's Chris Albright in the 83rd minute. The Fire managed six shots on goal and goalie Jon Busch stopped all four New England shots on goal in the win. Now the Fire await the winner of the Columbus-Kansas City series, which concludes Saturday, in the Eastern Conference Championship, which begin next Thursday. more ›

The Chicago Fire played the New England Revolution to a draw in the opener of their two-game aggregate playoff series last night 0-0. Both teams struggled to get much offense going throughout the physical match that saw 22 fouls and five yellow cards. The Fire mustered five shots on goal (Cuauhtemoc Blanco led the Fire with two) while goalie Jon Busch stopped all four New England shots on goal. more ›

The Chicago Fire played to a 1-1 draw with Kansas City on Sunday and are still looking to clinch a spot in the playoffs. The Fire's lone goal came off of a Blanco penalty kick in injury time at the end of the first half, his sixth goal of the season. KC only managed two shots on goal, but one was on-target from Michael Harrington in the 48th minute. The Fire remain one point behind New England in the standings with three games remaining. Next up, the Columbus Crew visit The Camry Sunday at 2 p.m. more ›

The Chicago Fire lit up the Revolution in the Fire home opener on last night. Just four minutes into the game Chad Barrett buried a goal to give the Fire the early lead. more ›