With Marco Pappa playing for Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup during the month of June the Fire will be without their leading scoring (tied with 4) and arguably most dynamic player for at least three matches. This Saturday's match against Seattle, the stadium opener in Kansas City on 6/9, and the road game in Columbus on 6/12 are all matches that are certain to be Pappa-less for the Fire. If Guatemala advances into the the quarter finals the 6/18 game at New England will be out as well.
The Gold Cup semi-finals and final also interfere with the Fire's 6/22 and 6/26 home games against Real Salt Lake and New York but chances are good that Pappa could be back for at least one of those if the Bicolor does not advance that far. The Fire's opponents for each of these June matches will also be affected and some drastically more than the Fire.
This Saturday's match with Seattle won't pose any Gold Cup related losses for the Sounders but Alvaro Fernandez, who originally was called into camp with Uruguay and then left off the national side, will not travel due to a hamstring injury suffered this past weekend.
Sporting Kansas City will be without four players due to international duty. Craig Rocastle, Stephen Auvray, Roger Espinoza, and Shavar Thomas will not be available to Peter Vermes for the Livestrong Sporting Park opener. Rocastle is a regular starter while Auvray and Espinoza have shuffled in and out of the first eleven.
The Columbus Crew will be without midfielder Robbie Rogers who plays an important role in their attack.
Shalrie Joseph has decided to forego playing for Grenada in order to stay with the Revolution because he felt his team needed him but his new central midfield partner Benny Feilhaber will not be available. Originally called into Bob Bradley's US team, Feilhaber will miss the next four matches with an ankle injury. It does not seem likely that he will return by 6/18 when the Fire travel to New England.
Real Salt Lake comes to Toyota Park on 6/22 and it's up in the air whether or not Alvaro Saborio and Arturo Alavarez are back for Jason Kreis. This match coincides with the Gold Cup semi's and it remains to be seen how far Costa Rica and El Salvador advance. Goalkeeper Nick Rimando is very likely to be still in tow for the United States.
The New York Red Bulls will be without five players during the first round of Gold Cup action. Dwayne DeRosario, Dane Richards, Rafa Marquez, Juan Agudelo, and Tim Ream have all been called by their national sides. Fortunately for the Fire, the Gold Cup final should see another Mexico v USA match up so it's likely that Marquez, Agudelo, and Ream are all still out come June 26.
The Fire have a hole to fill with Pappa unavailble but the opposition will also be handicapped to some extent. Regardless of who is on the pitch for either side, June appears to be a critical month for the Fire's hopes of getting into playoff contention.
Filed under: 2011 Regular Season
Tags: Chicago Fire, Gold Cup 2011
well at least the fire won't be missing the fouls that papa has committed. he is currently second in the league for fouls committed, too bad it wasn't fouls suffered.
RSL Keeper Rimando will likely be in net against the Fire. Apparently, as the 3rd string keeper, he will not travel with the USMNT and will only be called in as an injury replacement.
Kwame loaned to Tampa Bay .. does this mean all the Krol scuttlebut could have a hint of truth, move anibaba back to CB and krol for the right?
Tone- connect it for me, how does Kwame relate to Krol?
there was a rumor that Krol was at practice and that he was in negotiations, but we were full on slots, we lack outside backs. One could see how opening a slot by moving a defender would open a spot for another defender.
Ok, Kwame leaves to play in FLA, gets more playing time and we will get a better payer back next year. I don't think this is good news for Dasan though. He is a super great guy, but he is a guy who totally loses focus on set pieces at critical times. I think Dasan had a great first few years in the league and then the wheels fell off. IMO he has simply not played well the last few years. I'm not sure if its been the coaching or what, but he has got to step or he could be gone next year. I don't want that to happen though because I really think he can play very well when he focuses.
while it's not related, is Krol still an international? Didn't he marry an american, should make it easy for him to get a green card then and not count as an international right?