The Chicago Fire found out Tuesday that starting midfielder Logan Pause suffered two broken ribs and pneumothorax as a result of a collision with former teammate Bakary Soumare in the 25th minute of Sunday’s 3-1 victory at Philadelphia. The injury is expected to keep the Fire captain out approximately four-to-six weeks.
The injury kept the Fire captain down on the PPL Park turf for multiple minutes during Sunday’s game though he did return to action before making way for Patrick Nyarko in the 44th minute.
With the injury, Pause was medically unable to fly. Almost immediately following the match he rode back in a rental van that featured Head Athletic Trainer Bo Leonard, Head Coach Frank Klopas, Assistant Mike Matkovich and the scorer of two goals on the night, Chris Rolfe for the 11-hour drive back to Chicago.
“We’re going to miss Logan on the field,” said Klopas following training Tuesday. “The leadership and positive influence he brings to the team, his work rate on the field. He represents this club well everyday and we hope he recovers well.”
A relatively healthy player throughout his 10-year Fire career, Pause has appeared In a minimum of 21 matches every season since his rookie year of 2003. Sunday’s game was ironically his 250th regular season match for the club and the injury could put in doubt his ability to hit 300 competitive appearances by the end of the season (he currently sits at 294).
Pause’s absence also brings into question who will partner with Pavel Pardo at the heart of the Fire midfield.
Sunday may have been a small glimpse into Klopas’ short term plans as recent acquisition Alvaro Fernandez moved inside following Pause’s substitution while central midfielder Michael Videira saw his first minutes of 2012 as a second half substitute.
Daniel Paladini has previously played in the role, while 2010 first round SuperDraft pick Corben Bone and Homegrown midfielder Victor Pineda provide the manager with more options.
“Throughout the season you go through situations like this. We’ve always talked about relying on the team so others will need to step up and contribute and I’m sure the guys will be ready to do so.”
