Chicago Fire FC will observe a bye weekend this week with the October FIFA International window approaching. Forward Georgios Koutsias travels to join the Greece U-21 National Team, winger Ariel Lassiter joins the Costa Rica National Team and midfielder Sergio Oregel Jr. joins the U.S. U-20 Men’s Youth National Team. Additionally, Chicago Fire FC II Winger Omari Glasgow will also represent Guyana in Concacaf Nations League action.
Koutsias most recently joined the Greece U-21 National Team in September, when the young squad defeated the Faroe Islands 4-0 in UEFA EURO U-21 qualifying. The Fire forward scored the team’s third goal in the encounter. Greece, who was placed in Group G of the qualifying tournament, next faces Croatia at 11:00 a.m. CT on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at Gradski Stadion Ivan Kušek Apaš in Koprivnica, Croatia. Greece currently sits in second place in Group G behind Portugal, and ahead of Croatia, Faroe Islands, Belarus and Andorra.
Lassiter and Costa Rica continue their run in the Concacaf Nations League when they travel to face Suriname at 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 11 at Flora Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname. The Ticos will then host Guatemala at 7:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica. Lassiter opened his participation in the Nations League by scoring Costa Rica’s second goal in the 3-0 win against Guadeloupe on Thursday, Sept. 5 in Matchday 1 of the competition.
Oregel Jr. was called up by head coach Marko Mitrović for an international training camp from Oct. 7-15 in Santiago, Chile. The U-20 USMYNT will play friendly matches on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15 in its first camp since the team qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Oregel Jr. is one of only six players on the 22-man roster to have appeared in all four training camps for the 2005 birth year so far in 2024.
by the numbers
1 – Former University of Wisconsin-Madison teammates Tom Barlow and Chris Mueller combined for their first goal at the professional level. The last time Barlow scored off an assist from Mueller was in a 4-1 victory against University of Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 16, 2017, in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
8 – With his goal against Charlotte FC on Oct. 2, Fabian Herbers recorded his eighth goal contribution of the season. With three goals and five assists, Herbers recorded the second-most goal contributions in his nine-year MLS career. He scored three goals and registered seven assists in his rookie season with the Philadelphia Union for 10 goal contributions in 2016.
105 – With 105 stops to his credit, Chris Brady became the sixth goalkeeper in Fire history to record more than 100 saves in a single season, and the first to do so since Sean Johnson reached the mark in 2012. With 105 saves in 2024, Brady joins Johnson, Zach Thornton, Henry Ring, Matt Pickens, and Jon Busch as the only goalkeepers in Fire history to record 100 or more saves in a single season.
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CHICAGO FIRE FC II CLINCH BERTH IN 2024 MLS NEXT PRO PLAYOFFS, DAVID POREBA WINS GOLDEN BOOT
Following a 2-1 victory against Philadelphia Union 2 last Sunday afternoon, Chicago Fire FC II clinched their second-straight postseason berth in the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs. Peter Soudan opened the scoring for Chicago in the opening half to give the Fire an early advantage. Two minutes after Philadelphia equalized, Omari Glasgow placed his shot in the near side of the net and provided the eventual game-winning goal for Chicago. Goalkeeper Patrick Los preserved the victory for the Fire with three saves, including a late kick save to seal three points and a berth in the postseason.
Chicago Fire FC II captain David Poreba finished the season with 18 goals in the regular season to win the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Golden Boot award. Along with his league leading 18 goals, Poreba’s two assists for Fire II put him in the team lead for goal contributions with 20 during the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season.
Chicago Fire FC II will learn its opponent for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs on Tuesday, as the League’s “Pick-Your-Opponent" playoff format returns after its well-received debut in 2023. As the No. 4 seed, Chicago will host an opening round match, facing the team not selected by No. 1 FC Cincinnati 2, No. 2 Philadelphia Union II or No. 3 Inter Miami II. The first round of the Playoffs, the Conference Quarterfinals, will be held the weekend of October 18-20.