No Glory, No Defeat - Chicago vs. Queretaro FC

Well, I just got some news about the Fire's first game in Mexico vs. Queretaro FC. The stadium they played in is called "La Corregidora" and supposedly it seats around 40,000 people. The atmosphere was great and the game pulled in a crowd close to 15,000. From what I heard, the fans down there have been waiting eargely for the Fire's arrival. Kids are mobing the buses and it has to be a really cool experience for the rookies. Tonight's game ended in a 1-1 draw as both teams netted goals late in each half. Chicago got on the board late in the first half when John Thorrington carried the ball towards the center of the field and distributed it to Justin Mapp just outside the box on the left side of the field. Mapp went one on one with the defender beating him to the left and then cutting it back to his right foot for a great goal from about 10 yards out. The Fire went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

Jon Busch didn't play in the game at all, but Thorrington and Rolfe both played respectable minutes.

This was the lineup(with subs) for the Chicago Fire:

GK-Nick Noble (Andrew Dykstra 45), D-Tim Ward (Roland Paul Bebey Kingue 45)(David Sias 75), D-Dasan Robinson (Austin Washington 63), D-Bakary Soumare (C.J. Brown 45), D-Gonzalo Segares (Daniel Woolard 45), M-Chris Rolfe (Cuauhtémoc Blanco 55), M-Logan Pause (Jokull Elisabetarson 75), M-John Thorrington (Baggio Husidic 45), M-Justin Mapp (Mike Banner 45), F-Patrick Nyarko (Richard Jata 85), F-Brian McBride (Stefan Dimitrov 65)

Queretaro FC finally got on the board very late in the game just before stoppage time off a direct free kick. The Fire were waiting for the referee's whistle while setting up the wall, and before they knew it, a player from Queretaro FC broke free from the outside of the wall and netted a thru ball to tie the game up 1-1. With less than a minute left in the game, Jata had a chance to shoot from about 30+ yards, but instead he laid it off to another Fire player who was later denied of glory, ending the game in a 1-1 draw.

The Fire were supposed to take on Leon this Sunday, but unfortunately the game has been canceled. I guess we'll just have to wait until next Tuesday, the 24th, to see how they play against Morelia. The game will be at the same time(8pm) so I'll try to have the results of that game up late Tuesday, early Wednesday. Even though I'm enjoying some great weather here in Florida, I really wish I had the opportunity to catch one of these games in Mexico. More updates(and hopefully pictures) on the way.....