It was a tough night for Fire fans at Toyota Park as the Fire dropped a heart-breaker to Tigres UANL in the SuperLiga 2009 Final, 1-1 (4-3) on penalty kicks. Patrick Nyarko headed in the first goal of the game for the Fire early on in the 10th minute to give the Fire an early 1-0 edge. Just before the half, in the 43rd minute, Itamar Batista made some impressive moves that led to a goal of his own for Tigres that tied the game at 1-1. After a scoreless second half and stoppage time, the game moved to penalty kicks. Blanco opened the PK scoring for both teams, but Gaston Fernandez evened the count. Neither team scored in the second round of kicks but then both scored in the third round, Chris Rolfe for the Fire and Lucas Ayala for Tigres. Justin Mapp missed in the fourth round of PKs for Chicago and Armando Pulido answered with a goal for Tigres. Daniel Woolard scored for the Fire to start the fifth and final round, but Itamar Batista answered for Tigres, clinching the victory. 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 ›

In the final match of the first round of SuperLiga 2009 play, the Fire fell to Tigres UANL 2-1 on Saturday night. The Fire finished the first round at 2-1-0 overall but didn't clinch an advance to the semifinals (thanks to goal differential) until Blanco got a PK late in the 2nd half. Tigres got goals in the 37th and 61st minute while the Fire didn't produce much offense for themselves. This in spite of the fact that the Fire tripled Tigres on shots on goal, 12-4. Patrick Nyarko was fouled in the box for the Fire in the 85th minute that set up the Blanco PK. The Fire now await today's completion of Group B to find out who their semifinal opponent will be on July 15. The Fire head to Wilmington, North Carolina for their next match on Tuesday against the USL Second Division's Wilmington Hammerheads as part of the U.S. Open. more ›