They Made It To Mexico!

I've never seen two players fighting for the same spot be so friendly to one another, but I guess that's the way it goes with rookies. Sometimes they don't fit in with the team right away so a strong bond develops. Baggio and Jata were roommates in Bradenton, toured Chicago together and now they are training partners in Mexico. Technically, Jata and Baggio aren't fighting for the exact same spot though. Baggio is a defensive center mid with good attacking qualities and Jata is an attacking center mid with good defensive qualities. Baggio already has a contract and Jata doesn't, but that's not stopping them from living it up. They both are truly enjoying this once in a lifetime experience that only a handful of players get to do each year. Free gear, free traveling expenses and free food doesn't come easy though. These two have worked their whole lives to get this far and it looks as if it is finally paying off. Hopefully Jata will make the team, but it's not going to be easy. Earlier in the week, Jata was informed that he is one of six players fighting for two spots on the final roster. He is going to need a strong showing in Mexico to prove to the coaches that he deserves a spot, and being his brother, I think that's exactly what he'll do.

The Chicago Fire will be playing three games in Queretaro, Mexico over the next 10 days. Their first game will be tomorrow at 8pm against Queretaro FC. Their second game will be against Leon on Sunday, the 22nd at noon and the last game will be on Tuesday the 24th at 8pm. In the third game, Chicago will take on Morelia, which is the team Sonny Guadarrama plays for. For those of you that don't know, Sonny and his brother Willy both played for Campbell University. However, since Jata arrived to Campbell his Sophomore year he missed out on the opportunity to play with Sonny.

I heard the weather is actually somewhat enjoyable down there right now, with the high in the upper 70's (low 80's) and the low in the 40's. This should make the night games very interesting for Jata because he's proven to be very dominate in colder climates. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Tomorrow's game will be here soon enough and I really wish I was there to see it, but I guess I can't complain since I'm in Florida and the beach is just a couple of minutes away. I'll try to have the report up tomorrow night, but if I don't get to it, look for it on Thursday. Adios Amigos!