We experienced another UPSET in Day 12 of the 2011 Goal of the Year tournament as #4 Diego Chaves’ Capital Comeback winner on October 15 at DC United took down #2 Marco Pappa’s individual effort March 26 vs. Sporting KC to improbably take the Kubik Bracket championship. With the victory, Chaves’ effort is the only non-one seed in the tournament final four and will take on Klopas champion Dominic Oduro’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal game winner vs. Richmond from August 30 in Thursday’s second semifinal.
2011 FIRE GOTY - Day 13 - Which goal was better?
FINAL FOUR FACTS & FIGURES
Wednesday: #1 Marco Pappa #3 September 28 at Real Salt Lake (NOWAK) vs. #1 Jalil Anibaba March 30 vs. Colorado (ARMAS)
Thursday: #1 Dominic Oduro August 30 vs. Richmond (KLOPAS) vs. #4 Diego Chaves October 15 at DC United (KUBIK)
Friday: Championship
Game Winners: Three of the four goals served as game winners with Anibaba and Oduro’s goals being the strikes that advanced the side to the next stage of the U.S. Open Cup….
Chaves’ strike (with fantastic assists from Gonzalo Segares and Orr Barouch) capped an unbelievable stoppage time comeback at DC United to improbably keep the Fire in the playoff picture headed into the final week of the 2011 campaign….
Only Pappa’s hat trick clincher at Real Salt Lake didn’t serve as the game winner, though his ninth minute strike in the 3-0 away win did.
Second Half Goals: All four goals were scored in the second half of their respective matches. Ironically both Open Cup winners from Anibaba and Oduro respectively were scored in the 61st minute of matching 2-1 victories (vs. Colorado and Richmond)….
Pappa’s 75th minute hat trick clincher came in the 75th minute while Chaves tallied the latest of all in the 94th minute.
All four goals also came in the second half of their respective months with both Open Cup strikes falling on the 30th (March and August).
TODAY’S MATCHUP:
The First of two semifinals pits the Nowak champion, Marco Pappa’s hat trick clincher at Real Salt Lake on September 28 vs. Armas champion, Jalil Anibaba’s “improbable, impossible” screamer in U.S. Open Cup qualifying March 30 vs. Colorado. The winner advances to Friday’s final where they’ll away Thursday’s semifinal victor…
Will Anibaba’s strike become the first Open Cup goal to make the club’s Goal of the Year final? Will Pappa appear in the tournament championship for the second straight year?
Vote for your favorite goal by 11:59pm CT tonight at the poll to the right.
Click here to view the updated 2011 Chicago Fire Goal of the Year bracket or download as a PDF. Visit our 2011 Goal of the Year page here.
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