The Chicago Fire Soccer Club has announced its 2013 friendly against Club América that will take place on July 10th at Toyota Park. The Fire have previously hosted Mexican sides Santos Laguna and C.D. Guadalajara in 2012 and 2011, respectively. The Fire do have some history with América, having played them twice before, in 2006 and again in 2009. Both games ended in 2-1 defeats at the hands of the Mexican side. This game will count as one of two bonus games received for free by season ticket holders, with another friendly match expected to be announced at a later date. Game time and broadcast information have yet to be announced.
The match does crowd up the schedule a bit for the Fire, being played three days after the Fire host Sporting Kansas City, and four days before the Fire’s road match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place. Because of this, and the unscheduled, but likely, home U.S. Open Cup matches that could occur around the same time, it isn’t likely that the Fire will play their first team, pitting many reserve players against the Mexican side that may not use many starters either. Last season, the Fire’s goals in their 2-2 draw were scored by Michael Videira and Corben Bone in the second half comeback, neither of which saw too much game action in the regular season.
Team Notes: The Fire unsuccessfully appealed Jeff Larentowicz’s red card handed out in the Montréal game over the weekend. As the committee could not come to a unanimous decision on the legitimacy of the card, Larentowicz’s suspension was doubled to two games, making him ineligible for either match against the Philadelphia Union. Larentowicz is eligible to return for the May 25th match against Real Salt Lake, making it nearly a month out of game action.
The Fire host Philadelphia at home on May 11th at 12:30 PM on NBC Sports Network and then travel to face the Union in Philadelphia on May 18th, a 6:30 PM start to be broadcast on My50 Chicago.
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