2008 Chicago Fire season

Chicago Fire S.C.
2008 season
Chairman	Andrew Hauptman
Manager	Denis Hamlett
MLS	3rd overall (2nd in Eastern Conference)
MLS Cup Playoffs	Conference Final
U.S. Open Cup	Quarterfinals
Brimstone Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Chris Rolfe (9); All: Chris Rolfe (10)
Average home league attendance	17,052
Home colors	Away colors

The 2008 Chicago Fire season marked the club's 10th anniversary and their 11th consecutive season in Major League Soccer (MLS), solidifying their position in the top tier of American soccer. The season began with an impressive 3-1 away victory over Real Salt Lake on March 29, 2008. Under the leadership of Denis Hamlett, who was promoted to head coach for the first time, the Fire delivered a strong campaign, finishing 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 3rd overall in the league standings. The season concluded with a narrow 2-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Final on November 13, 2008, ending their hopes of a fourth MLS Cup Final appearance.

Roster

Squad

Players in bold have had senior international caps for their respective national squads.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
0	GK	USA	Tyler Kettering
1	GK	USA	Jon Busch
2	DF	USA	C.J. Brown (Vice-captain)
3	FW	USA	Calen Carr
4	MF	MLI	Bakary Soumare
5	MF	USA	Brian Plotkin
6	DF	USA	Brandon Prideaux
7	MF	USA	Logan Pause
8	MF	USA	Diego Gutiérrez
9	FW	POL	Tomasz Frankowski
10	MF	MEX	Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Captain)
11	MF	USA	John Thorrington
12	FW	GHA	Patrick Nyarko
16	MF	GUA	Marco Pappa
17	FW	USA	Chris Rolfe


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	USA	Mike Banner
20	FW	USA	Brian McBride
21	MF	USA	Justin Mapp
22	DF	COL	Wilman Conde
23	MF	PAR	Líder Mármol
24	DF	USA	Daniel Woolard
25	DF	CRC	Gonzalo Segares
26	FW	CRC	Andy Herron
28	GK	USA	Nick Noble
29	MF	USA	Peter Lowry
32	DF	USA	Dasan Robinson
33	MF	USA	Stephen King
34	DF	USA	Austin Washington
36	MF	USA	Kai Kasiguran
70	MF	FRA	Saad Karim Hadji

Transfers

In

Patrick Nyarko Drafted 7th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
Dominic Cervi Drafted 12th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
Peter Lowry Drafted 26th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
Dwight Barnett Drafted 38th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
Stephen King Drafted 40th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
Austin Washington Drafted 54th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
Andy Herron Rights acquired from Columbus Crew for 4th round pick in the 2010 Superdraft
Tomasz Frankowski Signed from Wolverhampton Wanderers
Brandon Prideaux Acquired in waiver draft from Colorado Rapids
Líder Mármol Signed as free agent.
Brian McBride Free agent
Saad Karim Hadji Free agent

Out

Matt Pickens To Queens Park Rangers
Iván Guerrero Lost to San Jose Earthquakes in the Expansion Draft
Jim Curtin Traded to Chivas USA
Chris Armas Retired
Paulo Wanchope Retired
Jeff Curtin Waived, later signed with D.C. United
Osei Telesford Waived, later signed with Puerto Rico Islanders
Chad Barrett Traded to Toronto FC in Brian McBride deal
Brian Plotkin Waived, later signed with Columbus Crew

Club

Management

Other information

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Last updated on June 5, 2008.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS Season
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
0	GK	USA	Tyler Kettering	0	0	0	0
1	GK	USA	Jon Busch	30	0	30	0
2	DF	USA	C.J. Brown	3	0	3	0
3	FW	USA	Calen Carr	9	2	9	2
4	MF	MLI	Bakary Soumare	28	0	28	0
6	DF	USA	Brandon Prideaux	27	0	27	0
7	MF	USA	Logan Pause	27	0	27	0
8	MF	USA	Diego Gutiérrez	20	0	20	0
9	FW	POL	Tomasz Frankowski	17	2	17	2
10	MF	MEX	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	27	7	27	7
11	MF	USA	John Thorrington	23	5	23	5
12	FW	GHA	Patrick Nyarko	9	1	9	1
16	MF	GUA	Marco Pappa	6	0	6	0
17	FW	USA	Chris Rolfe	26	10	26	10
18	MF	USA	Mike Banner	11	0	11	0
20	FW	USA	Brian McBride	11	5	11	5
21	MF	USA	Justin Mapp	30	2	30	2
22	DF	COL	Wilman Conde	22	1	22	1
23	DF	PAR	Lider Marmol	2	0	2	0
24	DF	USA	Daniel Woolard	8	1	8	1
25	DF	CRC	Gonzalo Segares	23	2	23	2
26	FW	CRC	Andy Herron	17	0	17	0
28	GK	USA	Nick Noble	0	0	0	0
29	MF	USA	Peter Lowry	0	0	0	0
32	DF	USA	Dasan Robinson	2	0	2	0
33	MF	USA	Stephen King	20	2	20	2
34	DF	USA	Austin Washington	1	0	1	0
36	MF	USA	Kai Kasiguran	0	0	0	0

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Current position / round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
MLS	—	—		March 29, 2008

Updated to match played July 21, 2009
Source: Competitions

Major League Soccer

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Columbus Crew	30	17	7	6	50	36	+14	57	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Chicago Fire	30	13	10	7	44	33	+11	46
3	New England Revolution	30	12	11	7	40	43	−3	43
4	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	10	9	37	39	−2	42
5	New York Red Bulls	30	10	11	9	42	48	−6	39
6	D.C. United	30	11	15	4	43	51	−8	37
7	Toronto FC	30	9	13	8	34	43	−9	35

Source: MLS

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Columbus Crew (C, S)	30	17	7	6	50	36	+14	57	CONCACAF Champions League
2	Houston Dynamo	30	13	5	12	45	32	+13	51	CONCACAF Champions League
3	Chicago Fire	30	13	10	7	44	33	+11	46	North American SuperLiga
4	Chivas USA	30	12	11	7	40	41	−1	43
5	New England Revolution	30	12	11	7	40	43	−3	43
6	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	10	9	37	39	−2	42
7	Real Salt Lake	30	10	10	10	40	39	+1	40
8	New York Red Bulls	30	10	11	9	42	48	−6	39	CONCACAF Champions League
9	Colorado Rapids	30	11	14	5	44	45	−1	38
10	D.C. United	30	11	15	4	43	51	−8	37	CONCACAF Champions League
11	FC Dallas	30	8	10	12	45	41	+4	36
12	Toronto FC	30	9	13	8	34	43	−9	35	CONCACAF Champions League^[a]
13	LA Galaxy	30	8	13	9	55	62	−7	33
14	San Jose Earthquakes	30	8	13	9	32	38	−6	33

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield
Notes:

^ As winners of the 2009 Canadian Championship

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
30	46	13	10	7	44	33	+11	7	5	3	23	17	+6	6	5	4	21	16	+5

Last updated: July 21, 2009
Source: Major League Soccer
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Stadium	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H
Result	T	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	T	T	W	T	T	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	W	T	T	L	W

Source: Chicago Fire
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; L = Loss; T = Tie

Matches

Win Tie Loss

MLS regular season

March 29, 2008	Real Salt Lake	1–1	Chicago Fire	Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
	Joy 51' Soumare 71' (o.g.) Findley 80' Beckerman 87'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Pause 89' Blanco 92+'	Stadium: Rice-Eccles Stadium Attendance: 20,272 Referee: Terry Vaughn

April 3, 2008	Chicago Fire	4–0	New England Revolution	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
	Barrett 4' Mapp 17' Frankowski 22' Blanco 37' (pen.) Frankowski 39' Barrett 50' Gutierrez 89'	Report	Larentowicz 7' Joseph 7' Mansally 23'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 15,553 Referee: Baldomero Toledo

April 12, 2008	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Chicago Fire	Oakland, California, United States
	Cochrane 65' Riley 94+'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Barrett 19' Soumare 55'	Stadium: McAfee Coliseum Attendance: 20,038 Referee: Kevin Stott

April 20, 2008	Chicago Fire	0–1	Kansas City Wizards	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
	Prideaux 46'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Jewsbury 4' Harrington 57' Trujillo 76'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 17,121 Referee: Jair Marrufo

April 26, 2008	Chicago Fire	2–1	Colorado Rapids	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
	Segares 45' Thorrington 53' Thorrington 84' Gutierrez 88'	Report	Gomez 45' Gomez 64' Gray 66' McManus 86'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 14,251 Referee: Tim Weyland

May 3, 2008	New England Revolution	0–3	Chicago Fire	Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States
		Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Rolfe 29' Thorrington 50' King 76'	Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 10,858 Referee: Jair Marrufo

May 8, 2008	D.C. United	0–2	Chicago Fire	Washington, D.C., United States
	Burch 30' Dyachenko 40' Namoff 73'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Mapp 38' Blanco 62' Prideaux 77' Thorrington 92'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 18,605 Referee: Terry Vaughn

May 17, 2008	Chicago Fire	1–2	Houston Dynamo	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
	Carr 28' Segares 92' Blanco 95'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	De Rosario 17' Clark 48' De Rosario 58' Boswell 82'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 17,183 Referee: Paul Ward

May 25, 2008	New York Red Bulls	1–5	Chicago Fire	East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
	Angel 68' Altidore 74'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Barrett 8' Rolfe 48' Blanco 55' Barrett 60' Segares 62' Soumare 68'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 14,754 Referee: Ricardo Salazar

June 7, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	D.C. United	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

June 15, 2008	F.C. Dallas	v	Chicago Fire	Fort Worth, Texas
				Stadium: Toyota Stadium

June 19, 2008	Chivas USA	v	Chicago Fire	Carson, California
				Stadium: Home Depot Center

June 28, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	San Jose Earthquakes	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

July 5, 2008	Columbus Crew	v	Chicago Fire	Columbus, Ohio
				Stadium: MAPFRE Stadium

July 12, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	Toronto FC	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

July 19, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	Real Salt Lake	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

July 27, 2008	Kansas City Wizards	v	Chicago Fire	Kansas City, Kansas
				Stadium: CommunityAmerica Ballpark

August 2, 2008	Chivas USA	v	Chicago Fire	Carson, California
				Stadium: Home Depot Center

August 9, 2008	New England Revolution	v	Chicago Fire	Foxborough, Massachusetts
				Stadium: Gillette Stadium

August 16, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	D.C. United	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

August 21, 2008	Los Angeles Galaxy	v	Chicago Fire	Carson, California
				Stadium: StubHub Center

August 31, 2008	Houston Dynamo FC	v	Chicago Fire	Houston, Texas
				Stadium: Robertson Stadium

September 6, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	New York Red Bulls	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

September 14, 2008	Colorado Rapids	v	Chicago Fire	Commerce City, Colorado
				Stadium: Dick's Sporting Goods Park

September 21, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	FC Dallas	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

September 25, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	Los Angeles Galaxy	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

October 5, 2008	Kansas City Wizards	v	Chicago Fire	Kansas City, Kansas
				Stadium: CommunityAmerica Ballpark

October 12, 2008	Chicago Fire	2–2	Columbus Crew	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
	McBride 13', 79'	Report, Report	Gaven 59' Busch 45' Schelotto 61' Carroll 86'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 14,994 Referee: Shane Moody

October 18, 2008	Toronto FC	v	Chicago Fire	Exhibition Place
				Stadium: BMO Field

October 23, 2008	Chicago Fire	v	New York Red Bulls	Bridgeview, Illinois
				Stadium: Toyota Park

MLS Cup Playoffs

October 30, 2008 Conference Semifinals	New England Revolution	0–0	Chicago Fire	Foxborough, Massachusetts
6:30 p.m. CDT				Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 5,221 Referee: Alex Prus

November 6, 2008 Conference Semifinals	Chicago Fire	3–0	New England Revolution	Bridgeview, Illinois
7:30 p.m. CDT	Rolfe 45+2' Conde 47' Segarez 74'			Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 17,312 Referee: Jair Marrufo

November 13, 2008 Conference Finals	Columbus Crew	2–1	Chicago Fire	Columbus, Ohio
6:30 p.m. CDT	Marshall 49' Gaven 55'		McBride 29'	Stadium: Columbus Crew Stadium Attendance: 14,688 Referee: Terry Vaughn

U.S. Open Cup

June 10, 2008 MLS Qualifier	Chicago Fire	3–2 (AET)	Columbus Crew	Peoria, Illinois, United States
19:00 CDT	King 10' Herron 65' Prideaux 82' Herron 116'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Ekpo 63' Garey 67' Zayner 79' Rogers 100'	Stadium: Shea Stadium Attendance: 3,829 Referee: Tony Russo

July 1, 2008 Third round	Chicago Fire	4–1	Cleveland City Stars (USL-2)	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
19:30 CDT	Banner 13' Carr 23' Barrett 26' Marmol 57' Banner 73'	Report	McClung 61' Stewart 78'	Stadium: Toyota Park Referee: Hidajet Tica

July 8, 2008 Quarterfinals	D.C. United	2–1 (AET)	Chicago Fire	Germantown, Maryland, United States
19:30 EDT	Doe 52' Doe 77' Moreno 89' Namoff 99' Fred 107' Burch 108'	Report	Woolard 36' Soumare 48' Pause 78' Thorrington 81' Blanco 108'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 4,118 Referee: Shane Moody

Friendlies

May 21, 2008	Chicago Fire	0–0	Wisła Kraków	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
19:30 CDT	Robinson 20' Conde 75' Brown 78' Woolard 81'	Report^{[permanent dead link]}	Cléber 51' Cantoro 54' Díaz 55'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 14,040 Referee: Mark Kadlecik

July 30, 2008	Chicago Fire	2–0	Everton F.C.	Bridgeview, Illinois, United States
19:30 CDT	Rolfe 42' Frankowski 70'	Report	Baxter 45' Gosling 81' Vaughan 92+'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 9,125 Referee: Landis Wiley

August 24, 2008	Veracruz	3–1	Chicago Fire	Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico
	Leyva 41' Olivera 44' Seccafien 55' Marmol 71' (o.g.)	Report	Blanco 16' Robinson 18'	Stadium: Estadio Luis de la Fuente

References

^ "MLSSoccer.com 2008 Stats".
^ "USA Major League Soccer - Attendance - 2008". ESPN Soccernet. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2009.

[table_note_res_CAN0.12827150576202-3] As winners of the 2009 Canadian Championship

[1] "MLSSoccer.com 2008 Stats".

[2] "USA Major League Soccer - Attendance - 2008". ESPN Soccernet. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2009.

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v t e 2008 MLS season by team
SuperDraft All-Star Game Playoffs MLS Cup Transfers
Eastern	Chicago Fire Columbus Crew D.C. United Kansas City Wizards New England Revolution New York Red Bulls Toronto FC
Western	Chivas USA Colorado Rapids FC Dallas Houston Dynamo Los Angeles Galaxy Real Salt Lake San Jose Earthquakes

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
30	46	13	10	7	44	33	+11	7	5	3	23	17	+6	6	5	4	21	16	+5

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
30	46	13	10	7	44	33	+11	7	5	3	23	17	+6	6	5	4	21	16	+5

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
30	46	13	10	7	44	33	+11	7	5	3	23	17	+6	6	5	4	21	16	+5