It was a whirlwind weekend for new Fire Designated Player Freddie Ljungberg.
The Swedish midfielder was acquired in a trade with the Seattle Sounders on Friday afternoon, joined his new teammates in Los Angeles on Saturday and made his team debut on Sunday, coming on in the 58th minute of the Fire’s 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy.
And while Ljungberg may not know all of his teammates names yet (he responded to a question about goalkeeper Sean Johnson by talking about the performance of forward Collins John), he was still excited by his new club’s road win over the league leaders.
“It was a great day,” Ljungberg said after the match. “LA’s number 1 and we beat them at home, 3-2, so everybody’s happy. They got two PKs – which maybe we don’t agree on, but that’s how it is – and we still won 3-2, so it’s all good.”
Ljungberg came into the match with the Fire up 3-1 and LA pressing for a goal.
“They were on us quite a bit when I came on,” Ljungberg said. “I tried to help the guys organize a little … and in the end we made it.”
Ljungberg and the rest of his Fire teammates will resume training on Wednesday morning. Chicago play host to Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel and recently signed Designated Player Rafa Márquez on Sunday night.
Sam Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
