BRIDGEVIEW, IL - The Chicago Fire (5-8-5, 20 pts.) continue their quest to climb the Eastern Conference standings when they face Real Salt Lake (2-9-6, 12 pts.) this Saturday (8:00 p.m. CT, Comcast SportsNet) at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Fire are coming off a bye in Week 19, their last result a 0-0 draw against the Columbus Crew on Aug. 4 at TOYOTA PARK that saw the MLS debut of forward Paulo Wanchope. RSL is coming off a bye week as well, with the Utah-based club last posting an impressive 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Aug. 4 for the team's second win of the 2007 campaign. This Saturday's contest will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet - Chicago and over the airwaves on Chicagoland radio station WRTO-AM 1200 (Spanish).
Chicago Fire @ Real Salt Lake: Fire Match # 19 MLS Match # 127
Saturday, August 18 @ 8:00 p.m. CT: Rice-Eccles Stadium - Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: Comcast SportsNet (Kenn Tomasch, Kenny Stern, Chris Doran)
Satellite: KU BAND, Galaxy 11, Tr. 19, D/L: 12071(H), Symbol Rate: 13.235, Data rate: 18.2958, FEC: ¾
Audio: WRTO-1200 AM (Oscar Guzman, "Batata" DaSilva, Enrique "Tico" Fernandez)
Game Guide:Here
Chicago Fire/AthletiCo "Recovery Room": August 17
Curtin, Jim - R Shoulder labral tear - OUT FOR SEASON
Gutierrez, Diego - Lower back strain - PROBABLE
Russolillo, Jordan - R hip labrum tear - OUT FOR SEASON
Telesford, Osei - L groin strain - OUT
Fire History vs. Real Salt Lake
Saturday's match will mark just the sixth-ever meeting between the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake and is the second of two 2007 regular season contests between the two sides. On May 27, the "Men in Red" tied RSL in a scoreless draw at TOYOTA PARK that witnessed the starting debut of midfielder Willian Oliveira. The Fire holds a 3-1-1 overall advantage in the series, splitting the 2006 season contests with a 3-1 defeat on June 3 at Rice-Eccles Stadium that saw Fire midfielder Brian Plotkin score his first and only career goal. The return leg was a much more favorable result as forward Chad Barrett tallied both goals in a 2-1 victory on June 28 at TOYOTA PARK. Barrett notched his first MLS career goal in the first-ever meeting between the clubs in a 3-0 Fire win on May 28, 2005 on the road, while the return leg at Soldier Field on June 26, 2005 produced a 3-1 victory.
M.A.S.H. Attack No More
While big names have been welcome additions to the club as of late, the bigger story at this point could be that the Chicago Fire's attacking line is fully healthy heading toward the playoff stretch. Fire forward Chris Rolfe is finally finding match-fitness after coming off the bench for 19 minutes in Chicago's last match against the Columbus, now fully-recovered since suffering a severe left ankle sprain on May 12 at Toronto FC. Fire and U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Justin Mapp is also back on the scene, having missed over two weeks of first team action due to a left groin strain pull suffered in U.S. Open Cup play against the Carolina RailHawks on July 15 in Cary, N.C. Both Mapp and Rolfe will be available for head coach Juan Carlos Osorio this Saturday.
Yellow Means Slow Down
With a yellow card caution picked up in the 13th minute of Sunday's 3-0 win over Toronto on July 29, Fire forward Calen Carr now holds four cautions for the season and is two games away from a "good behavior" incentive to knock it back down to three. Midfielder Diego Gutierrez is serving a one-game suspension Saturday for picking up his fifth yellow card caution of the season on Aug. 4 against the Columbus Crew and will not be available to play against Real Salt Lake. Forward Chad Barrett, midfielder Thiago, and defenders C.J. Brown and Gonzalo Segares all hold three cautions a piece and are two yellow card cautions away from suspension.
Revolving (Re-evolving) Door
What can be attributed to a slew of injuries and a changing of the guard at the helm, the "Men in Red" have seen a record number of new faces don the red and white in 2007. With Blanco making his Fire regular season debut on July 29 at Toronto, he became the 27th player to appear in a regular season game for the "Men in Red" this year. The club record for most players used during a regular season is 28, set in 2002, tied by fire forward Paulo Wanchope's 58th minute appearance on Aug. 4.
Quick Kicks vs. RSL
• With 12 fouls suffered in the 0-0 draw with Columbus, Fire forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco broke the previously-held MLS record of 10 fouls suffered in a regular season game.
• Chicago defender Gonzalo Segares is the only member of the "Men in Red" to have played in every regular season game for the Fire through the 2007 campaign.
• In four games played (1 start) overall with Chicago in the regular season series against Real Salt Lake, Fire forward Chad Barrett has tallied a series-high three goals scored on May 28, 2005 (84') and June 26, 2006 (80' 85') in just 156 minutes of play.
• Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch will celebrate his 31st birthday this Saturday, Aug. 18.
• The Fire own a 2-5-1 mark in regular season road games contested in 2007.
• Real Salt Lake is one step closer to a soccer home, as Thursday the Sandy City Council approved $35 million of Salt Lake County hotel tax dollars to the team for purchase of land, infrastructure and parking for the Utah club's $115 million stadium plan.
• RSL's regular season series leaders against Chicago in goals (2 - Jeff Cunningham/Jason Kreis), shots (9 - Kreis), shots on goal (4 - Cunningham), fouls committed (10 - Medhi Ballouchy), fouls suffered (5 - Cunningham/Kreis) no longer play for the club.
• Former Fire defender Carlos Bocanegra (2000-03) and forward Josh Wolff (1998-2002) were selected to the U.S. Men's National Team's 19-man roster for the team's Aug. 22 friendly against Sweden in Göteborg, Sweden (1:30 p.m. CT, Fox Soccer Channel).
• Caution Watch - Chad Barrett (3c), C.J. Brown (3c), Calen Carr (4c), Jeff Curtin (3c, 1e), Jim Curtin (2c), Diego Gutierrez (5c, 1e), Logan Pause (1c), Dasan Robinson (2c), Gonzalo Segares (3c), Bakary Soumare (2c, 1e), Thiago (3c).
