Before a boisterous near-sellout crowd at Toyota Park, Club America opened an early 2-0 lead then held on to record a 2-1 win against the Chicago Fire.
The game was a celebration of Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who played 333 games for Club America before coming to Major League Soccer. Blanco scored 125 goals for America during his Mexican league career.
It took less than two minutes for Club America to make their mark before the decidedly favorable Toyota Park crowd. Off of a free kick 35 yards out, the Aguilas passed the ball back and forth across the penalty area until Fire midfielder Logan Pause sent out a header from inside the goal area directly to Juan Carlos Silva, who fired a 15-yard shot over Fire goalkeeper Nick Noble for the game's first score.
The Fire almost tied the game four minutes later, when Chris Rolfe took a cross from Blanco and was alone barring down on America goalkeeper Armando Navarrete. Rolfe's shot crossed in front of Navarrete but went wide right.
The game was played in wide-open fashion, and both teams had numerous scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes.
At the 16-minute mark, America's Angel Reyna slotted a pass to Robert de Pinho charging past Fire defender Brandon Prideaux into open space. De Pinho sent a cross but it was too far in front of Salvador Cabanas coming in on the right side of goal.
In the 29th minute, Prideaux took a chance on a shot from the upper right corner of the box toward the upper left corner, and Navarrete barely got his glove on the ball to send it out.
In the 42nd minute, America midfielder Pavel Pardo sent a free kick from the left side of the penalty area. It went right to the hands of Noble, but he lost the handle on the ball and it bounced under him into the goal for a 2-0 America lead.
The second half was played at a much slower pace, but in the 59th minute, Fire defender Dasan Robinson was called for a foul inside the penalty area against de Pinho. Mexican forward Salvador Cabanas lined up for the penalty kick, but he sent it right at Fire reserve goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, who punched the ball out for the save.
The Fire finally got on the board in the 73rd minute when rookie Stefan Dimitrov slotted a pass between two Club America defenders to Rolfe charging down the middle of the field. Rolfe one-timed the scoring shot past Navarrete who was coming out.
For the exhibition match, Fire coach Denis Hamlett mixed starters with reserves, balancing his desire to respect Club America and the fans in attendance with his need to keep players fresh for their league game Saturday against Seattle.
The only obvious starter for the Fire was Blanco, who ended up playing 67 minutes. The other starters Hamlett used Wednesday were defenders Wilman Conde and Gonzalo Segares, Pause and forward Patrick Nyarko. He also used veteran defenders Prideaux and Robinson, who each have one start this season, and Rolfe, the former starter who has not been able to unseat Nyarko for the starting forward spot alongside veteran Brian McBride.
Noble started in place of regular goalkeeper Jon Busch. Others in the starting lineup were rookie midfielder and first round draft pick Baggio Husidic, and midfielder Mike Banner
For the second half, Hamlett used starting defender Tim Ward and starting defender Bakary Soumare along with reserves Austin Washington and rookie Stefan Dimitrov. Rookie goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra took over for Noble.
The night was also marked by attempts by the Fire to assuage health concerns surrounding the outbreak of swine flu in the United States and Mexico. The Fire installed 32 hand sanitizers around the stadium, but very few fans wore surgical masks in an attempt to protect themselves.
Far more prevalent were Lucha Libre masks, the popular Mexican wresting masks that cover the entire head.
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
Chicago Fire 1 - Club America 2
Toyota Park -- Bridgeview, Ill.
April 29, 2009 - Att: 17,342
Weather: Cloudy, 53 degrees
Scoring Summary:
AME- Juan Carlos Silva (UA) 2'
AME-Pavel Pardo (UA) 42'
CHI- Chris Rolfe (Stefan Dimitrov, Tim Ward) 73'
FIRE: Nick Noble (Andrew Dykstra 45); Gonzalo Segares (Austin Washington 45), Wilman Conde (Bakary Soumare 45), Dasan Robinson, Brandon Prideaux, Baggio Husidic, Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Marco Pappa 67), Logan Pause (Tim Ward 45), Mike Banner; Chris Rolfe, Patrick Nyarko (Stefan Dimitrov 45).
AMERICA: Armando Navarrete; Fernando Ortiz, Guillermo Cerda, Ademar Rodriguez, Armando Sanchez (Rodrigo Iñigo 80); Jean Beausejour (Enrique Esqueda 65), Pavel Pardo (Alejandro Arguello 45), Juan Carlos Silva, Salvador Cabañas; Robert de Pinho (Andres Chitiva 65), Angel Reyna (Lameros Kontogiannis 72).
Misconduct Summary:
CHI - Mike Banner (caution, reckless foul) 57' AME -
Enrique Esqueda (caution, reckless foul) 76' AME -
Guillermo Cerda (caution, reckless foul) 89'
Referee: Lee Suckle
Asst. Ref: Peter Manikowski
Asst. Ref: Eric Boria
4th Official: Michal Kennedy
