HAPPY LEAP YEAR DAY!
The Chicago Fire play their second game of the 2012 Carolina Challenge Cup when they take on the Columbus Crew Wednesday at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, SC. Catch a live stream of the match via Chicago-Fire.com beginning at 4pm CT or follow @ChiFireMatch on Twitter.
-Despite dominating much of the match, a saved Pavel Pardo penalty kick and a Dominic Oduro effort that came off the crossbar saw the Fire fall 1-0 to D.C. United in Saturday’s tournament opener.
-After Eddie Gaven’s sixth minute goal was canceled out by Charleston’s Dane Kelly in the 40th minute, new Crew midfielder Milovan Mirosevic’s 58th minute penalty nearly guided his side to a 2-1 victory but Jose Cuevas’ 89th minute take from the spot earned the Battery a share of the spoils in Saturday’s 2-2 nightcap.
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The Fire will debut the team’s new all-blue secondary Quaker kits for tonight’s match.
-Due to international absences the Fire will be without goalkeeper Sean Johnson (U.S. U-23), midfielders Marco Pappa (Guatemala) and Victor Pineda (U.S. U-20) and forwards Orr Barouch (Israel U-21), Dominic Oduro and Patrick Nyarko (Ghana).
-Midfielder Pavel Pardo will be unavailable for selection Wednesday night.
-Held out of Saturday’s match vs. D.C., defender Cory Gibbs and midfielder Sebastian Grazzini will be game time decisions Wednesday night along with rookie defender Austin Berry who was injured at the weekend.
-Goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi and defender Amadou Sanyang are currently the only two trialists in Fire training camp.
-The Crew will be without midfielder Dilly Duka who joins Johnson in U.S. U-23 camp for Wednesday night’s friendly vs. Mexico.
-The Fire enter Wednesday night’s match with a 3-3-1 preseason record.
-- FIRE RESULTS: D.C. United 1, Chicago Fire 0 (February 25); San Jose Earthquakes 2, Chicago Fire 0 (February 18); Portland Timbers 2, Chicago Fire 0 (February 15); Chicago Fire 1, Chivas USA 0 (February 11); Chicago Fire 3, Real Espana 1 (February 4); Chicago Fire 3, Florida Gulf Coast University 0 (February 1); Chicago Fire 0, D.C. United 0 (January 29).
-FIRE PRESEASON GOAL SCORERS: Dominic Oduro 3, Orr Barouch 2, Marco Pappa 1, Daniel Paladini
-The Crew enter Saturday night’s game with a 2-2-1 preseason record.
-COLUMBUS CREW RESULTS: Columbus Crew 2, College of Charleston 0 (February 27); Columbus Crew 2, Charleston Battery 2 (February 25); Seattle Sounders FC 2, Columbus Crew 0 (February 16); Columbus Crew 6, U.S. U-17s 0 (February 11); Malmo FF 2, Columbus Crew 1 (February 8)
-CREW PRESEASON GOAL SCORERS: Eddie Gaven 3, Emilio Renteria 2, Milovan Mirosevic 2, Olman Vargas 2, Justin Meram 1, Eric Gehrig 1
-The forecast for Wednesday’s kickoff in Charleston is 70 degrees and partly sunny.
-THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET… The Chicago Fire ran out to a 2-0 lead with rookie defender Jalil Anibaba’s two headed goals inside the first 30 minutes. Columbus answered through Emilio Renteria (72nd) and Dilly Duka in the 79th minute before Diego Chaves tallied an 81st minute winner to give the Fire a 3-2 victory and leave Columbus’ playoff hopes hanging in the balance.
