2020 Chicago Fire FC season - Wikipedia

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Chicago Fire FC

2020 season
Chairman	Joe Mansueto
Head coach	Raphaël Wicky
Stadium	Soldier Field (capacity: 61,500)
MLS	Conference: 11th Overall: 22nd
MLS Cup Playoffs	Did not qualify
U.S. Open Cup	Canceled
MLS is Back Tournament	Group stage
Highest home attendance	League:
Lowest home attendance	League:
Average home league attendance	League:
Biggest win	CHI 4–0 HOU (September 23)
Biggest defeat	CLB 3–0 CHI (August 20) ORL 4–1 CHI (August 20)
Home colors Away colors
← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Chicago Fire FC season was the club's 22nd year of existence, as well as their 23rd in Major League Soccer. This was the Fire's first full year under the ownership of Joe Mansueto following his purchase of the club on September 13, 2019.^[1] This was also the Fire's first season back in city limits, playing in Soldier Field for the first time since 2005.^[2][3] The Fire faced Atlanta United FC in their first home match. The team also announced a rebrand on November 21, 2019. They became known as Chicago Fire Football Club (Chicago Fire FC) and changed their logo.^[4] The change was met with large amounts of negative reaction on social media. The Fire failed to advance out of the group stage of the MLS is Back Tournament. After finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference, the team did not qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

As of March 6, 2020. Sources: Chicago Fire official roster and Official MLS Roster

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Player Notes
1	Bobby Shuttleworth		G	May 17, 1987 (age 37)	Sacramento Republic
2	Boris Sekulić		D	October 21, 1991 (age 33)	Górnik Zabrze	International
3	Jonathan Bornstein		D	November 7, 1984 (age 40)	Maccabi Netanya F.C.
4	Johan Kappelhof		D	August 5, 1990 (age 34)	FC Groningen
5	Francisco Calvo		D	July 8, 1992 (age 32)	Minnesota United FC
6	Miguel Navarro		D	February 26, 1999 (age 25)	Deportivo La Guaira F.C.	International
7	Ignacio Aliseda		M	March 14, 2000 (age 24)	Defensa y Justicia	International Designated Player
8	Luka Stojanović		M	January 4, 1994 (age 31)}	FK Čukarički	International
9	C. J. Sapong		F	December 27, 1988 (age 36)	Philadelphia Union
10	Álvaro Medrán		M	March 15, 1994 (age 30)	Valencia CF	International
11	Przemysław Frankowski		M	April 12, 1995 (age 29)	Jagiellonia Białystok	International
13	Brandt Bronico		M	June 20, 1995 (age 29)	Charlotte 49ers
14	Djordje Mihailovic		M	November 10, 1998 (age 26)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
16	Michael Azira		M	August 22, 1987 (age 37)	Montreal Impact
18	Kenneth Kronholm		G	October 14, 1985 (age 39)	Holstein Kiel
20	Wyatt Omsberg		D	September 21, 1995 (age 29)	Minnesota United FC
21	Fabian Herbers		F	August 17, 1993 (age 31)	Philadelphia Union
22	Mauricio Pineda		D/M	October 17, 1997 (age 27)	North Carolina Tar Heels	Homegrown
24	Connor Sparrow		G	May 10, 1994 (age 30)	Nashville SC
25	Nicholas Slonina		D	March 20, 2001 (age 23)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
27	Robert Berić		F	June 17, 1991 (age 33)	AS Saint-Étienne	International Designated Player
28	Elliot Collier		F	February 22, 1995 (age 30)	Loyola Chicago
30	Gastón Giménez		M	July 27, 1991 (age 33)	Vélez Sarsfield	International Designated Player
32	Gabriel Slonina		G	May 15, 2004 (age 20)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
33	Jeremiah Gutjahr		M	August 10, 1997 (age 27)	Indiana Hoosiers	Homegrown
36	Andre Reynolds II		D	May 2, 2001 (age 23)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
—	Chris Brady		G	March 3, 2004 (age 20)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
—	Javier Casas		M	May 14, 2003 (age 21)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
—	Brian Gutiérrez		M	June 17, 2003 (age 21)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
—	Alex Monis		F	March 20, 2003 (age 21)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown
—	Allan Rodríguez		M	May 7, 2004 (age 20)	Chicago Fire Academy	Homegrown

Date	Player	Position	Previous Club	Notes	Ref
October 10, 2019	Álvaro Medrán	M	Valencia CF	Signed a TAM contract as a free agent through 2021 with options for 2022 and 2023	[5]
October 14, 2019	Michael Azira	M	Chicago Fire FC	Nelson announced that his option was exercised during a media roundtable	[6]
October 14, 2019	Jeremiah Gutjahr	D/M	Chicago Fire FC	Nelson announced that his option was exercised during a media roundtable	[6]
October 14, 2019	Fabian Herbers	M/F	Chicago Fire FC	Nelson announced that his option was exercised during a media roundtable	[6]
November 21, 2019	Raheem Edwards	D/M	Chicago Fire FC	Option was exercised	[7]
November 21, 2019	C. J. Sapong	M/F	Chicago Fire FC	Option was exercised	[7]
December 20, 2019	Nicholas Slonina	D	Chicago Fire Academy	Signed as a homegrown player for the 2020 season with options through 2023	[8]
January 17, 2020	Mauricio Pineda	D/M	North Carolina Tar Heels	Signed as a homegrown player for the 2020 season with options through 2023	[9]
January 18, 2020	Robert Berić	F	AS Saint-Étienne	Signed to a designated player contract through 2021 with an option for 2022	[10]
January 20, 2020	Connor Sparrow	GK	Nashville SC	Signed for 2020 with options for 2021 and 2022	[11]
January 27, 2020	Miguel Navarro	D	Deportivo La Guaira F.C.	Transferred from Deportivo La Guaira F.C. for an undisclosed amount on a contract through 2022 with options for 2023 and 2024	[12]
January 30, 2020	Bobby Shuttleworth	GK	Sacramento Republic	Signed as a free agent to a contract through 2021	[13]
February 6, 2020	Elliot Collier	F	Chicago Fire FC	Signed after his contract was declined and after a successful trial	[14]
February 11, 2020	Wyatt Omsberg	D	Minnesota United FC	Acquired from Minnesota in exchange for Raheem Edwards	[15]
February 15, 2020	Boris Sekulić	D	Górnik Zabrze	Acquired from Górnik Zabrze on a contract through 2022	[16]
February 19, 2020	Ignacio Aliseda	M	Defensa y Justicia	Acquired from Defensa y Justicia as a Designated Player on a contract through 2023	[17]
February 20, 2020	Luka Stojanović	M	FK Čukarički	Acquired from FK Čukarički on a contract through 2021 with an option for 2022	[18]
February 24, 2020	Gastón Giménez	M	Vélez Sarsfield	Acquired from Velez Sarsfield as a Designated Player on a contract through 2021 with an option for 2022	[19]
March 9, 2020	Brian Gutiérrez	M	Chicago Fire Academy	Signed as a homegrown player through the 2023 season with an option for 2024	[20]
March 10, 2020	Javier Casas	M	Chicago Fire Academy	Signed as a homegrown player through the 2023 season with an option for 2024	[21]
March 11, 2020	Alex Monis	F	Chicago Fire Academy	Signed as a homegrown player through the 2023 season with an option for 2024	[22]
March 24, 2020	Chris Brady	G	Chicago Fire Academy	Signed as a homegrown player through the 2023 season with an option for 2024	[23]
March 25, 2020	Allan Rodríguez	M	Chicago Fire Academy	Signed as a homegrown player through the 2023 season with an option for 2024	[24]

Date	Player	Position	Destination Club	Notes	Ref
October 8, 2019	Bastian Schweinsteiger	D/M	Retired		[25]
October 12, 2019	Nemanja Nikolić	F	Fehérvár FC	Out of contract	[26]
November 12, 2019	Dax McCarty	M	Nashville SC	Traded in exchange for $50k in TAM and $50k in GAM	[27]
November 14, 2019	Grant Lillard	D	Inter Miami CF	Traded in exchange for $75k in GAM	[28]
November 21, 2019	Diego Campos	M	FK Jerv	Option declined	[7]
November 21, 2019	Stefan Cleveland	GK	Seattle Sounders FC	Option declined; rights traded to Seattle alongside Chicago's 35th overall pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for Seattle's 26th overall pick	[7]
November 21, 2019	Nicolás Gaitán	M	LOSC Lille	Option declined	[7]
November 21, 2019	Aleksandar Katai	M/F	LA Galaxy	Option declined	[7]
November 21, 2019	Cristian Martínez	M	Cádiz CF	Option declined	[7]
November 21, 2019	Amando Moreno	M/F	New Mexico United	Option declined	[7]
November 21, 2019	David Ousted	GK	Hammarby Fotboll	Option declined	[7]
November 21, 2019	Richard Sánchez	GK	Sporting Kansas City	Option declined; picked up in Round 1 of the 2019 MLS Re-Entry Draft	[7]
January 14, 2020	Marcelo	DF	F.C. Paços de Ferreira	Mutual Termination	[29]
February 11, 2020	Raheem Edwards	D/M	Minnesota United FC	Traded to Minnesota in exchange for Wyatt Omsberg	[15]

Date first reported	Player	Position	Previous club	Notes	Ref
January 9, 2020	Jonathan Jimenez	D/M	Pacific Tigers	Drafted with the 26th overall pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft	[30]
January 27, 2020	Jonathan Campbell	D	Seattle Sounders FC	Announced as a trialist in Florida; confirmed to have left on February 16	[31][32]
January 27, 2020	Nikos Kenourgios	D/F	S.V. Zulte Waregem	Announced as a trialist in Florida; confirmed to have left on February 16	[31][32]
January 27, 2020	Jesús Vázquez	D	Atlante F.C.	Announced as a trialist in Florida	[31]
February 16, 2020	Christian Diaz	D	Forward Madison FC	Announced as a trialist on February 16	[32]

The Fire also had several academy players in the camp- Chris Brady (G), Javier Casas (M), Brian Gutierrez (M), Alex Monis (F), and Allan Rodriguez (M).^[31][32]

Position	Staff
General Manager	Nelson Rodríguez
Sporting Director	Georg Heitz
Technical Director	Sebastian Pelzer
Head Coach	Raphaël Wicky
Assistant Coach	Frank Klopas
Assistant Coach	David Zdrilic
Goalkeeping Coach	Adin Brown
Senior Director of Soccer Operations	Eddie Rock
Performance Coach	John Grace
Director of Performance	Ben Donachie
Strength and Conditioning Coach	Raphael Fevre
Massage Therapist	Steven Burrows
Director of Scouting	Matt Pearson
Video Analyst	Nenad Babic
Manager of Team and Soccer Operations	Alex Boler
Equipment Manager	Brian Sauer
Assistant Equipment Manager	Juan Arreola
Head Athletic Trainer	Reade Whitney
Assistant Athletic Trainer	Hillary Bell
Assistant Athletic Trainer	Tyler Golden
Chief Medical Officer	Dr. Joshua Blomgren, D.O.
Head Orthopedic Officer	Dr. Brian Forsythe, M.D.
Physical Therapist	Ryan Perry

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
9	Montreal Impact[a]	23	8	13	2	33	43	−10	26	1.13	Qualification for the playoffs play-in round
10	Inter Miami CF	23	7	13	3	25	35	−10	24	1.04
11	Chicago Fire FC	23	5	10	8	33	39	−6	23	1.00
12	Atlanta United FC	23	6	13	4	23	30	−7	22	0.96	Qualification for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League[b]
13	D.C. United	23	5	12	6	25	41	−16	21	0.91

Source: MLS^[33]
Rules for classification: 1) points per game; 2) total wins per match played; 3) total goal differential per match played; 4) total goals scored per match played; 5) fewest disciplinary points per match played; 6) away goal differential per away match played; 7) away goals scored per away match played; 8) home goal differential per home match played; 9) home goals scored per home match played; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.
Notes:

2020 MLS overall standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
20	LA Galaxy	22	6	12	4	27	46	−19	22	1.00
21	Real Salt Lake	22	5	10	7	25	35	−10	22	1.00
22	Chicago Fire FC	23	5	10	8	33	39	−6	23	1.00
23	Atlanta United FC (U)	23	6	13	4	23	30	−7	22	0.96	2021 CONCACAF Champions League[a]
24	D.C. United	23	5	12	6	25	41	−16	21	0.91

Source: MLS^[34]
Rules for classification: 1) points per game; 2) total wins per match played; 3) total goal differential per match played; 4) total goals scored per match played; 5) fewest disciplinary points per match played; 6) away goal differential per away match played; 7) away goals scored per away match played; 8) home goal differential per home match played; 9) home goals scored per home match played; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.
(U) U.S. Open Cup winners
Notes:

Group B results

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Jose Earthquakes	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Seattle Sounders FC	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	4
3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3	1	0	2	5	7	−2	3
4	Chicago Fire	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	3

  Win   Tie   Loss

Due to changes in the schedule, this will be the first season where the Fire don't face every club in the league (three clubs in the Western Conference). They did not compete against Real Salt Lake. Kickoff times are in CST (UTC-06)

Kickoff times are in CST (UTC-06)

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	MLS	Open Cup	Total
Starts	Apps	Minutes	Starts	Apps	Minutes	Starts	Apps	Minutes
1	GK	USA	Bobby Shuttleworth
2	DF	SVK	Boris Sekulić
3	DF	USA	Jonathan Bornstein	1	1	90				1	1	90
4	DF	NED	Johan Kappelhof	1	1	90				1	1	90
5	DF	CRC	Francisco Calvo	1	1	90				1	1	90
6	D	VEN	Miguel Navarro
7	MF	ARG	Ignacio Aliseda
8	MF	SER	Luka Stojanović
9	FW	USA	C. J. Sapong
10	MF	ESP	Álvaro Medrán	1	1	90				1	1	90
11	MF	POL	Przemysław Frankowski	1	1	90				1	1	90
13	MF	USA	Brandt Bronico	1	1	90				1	1	90
14	MF	USA	Djordje Mihailovic	1	1	70				1	1	70
16	MF	UGA	Michael Azira		1	9					1	9
18	GK	USA	Kenneth Kronholm	1	1	90				1	1	90
20	DF	USA	Wyatt Omsberg
21	FW	GER	Fabian Herbers	1	1	81				1	1	81
22	DF/MF	USA	Mauricio Pineda	1	1	90				1	1	90
24	GK	USA	Connor Sparrow
25	DF	USA	Nicholas Slonina
28	FW	NZL	Elliot Collier		1	20					1	20
27	FW	SVN	Robert Berić	1	1	90				1	1	90
30	MF	ARG	Gastón Giménez
32	GK	USA	Gabriel Slonina
33	MF	USA	Jeremiah Gutjahr
36	DF	USA	Andre Reynolds III
—	GK	USA	Chris Brady
—	MF	USA	Javier Casas
—	MF	USA	Brian Gutiérrez
—	FW	USA	Alex Monis
—	MF	USA	Allan Rodríguez

No.	Nat.	Name	MLS	Open Cup	Total
Clean sheets	Saves	GA	Clean sheets	Saves	GA	Clean sheets	Saves	GA
1	USA	Bobby Shuttleworth
18	USA	Kenneth Kronholm		4	2					4	2
24	USA	Connor Sparrow
32	USA	Gabriel Slonina
—	USA	Chris Brady

Note: Italics indicates a player who left during the season

Man of the Match awards

Game #	Player	Position	Notable Statistics	Reference
1	Robert Berić	FW	1 G	[39]
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
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34

Note: Italics indicates player left after his first call up

 Costa Rica
Francisco Calvo

• 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A Match vs Haiti, October 10
• 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A Match vs Curaçao, October 13
• 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A Match vs Haiti, November 14
• 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A Match vs Curaçao, November 17

 New Zealand
Elliot Collier

• Friendly vs Republic of Ireland, November 14
• Friendly vs Lithuania, November 17

 Panama
Cristian Martínez

• 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A Match vs Mexico, November 15
• Friendly vs Bolivia, November 19

 Poland
Przemysław Frankowski

• Euro 2020 Qualifying Match vs Latvia, October 10
• Euro 2020 Qualifying Match vs North Macedonia, October 13
• Euro 2020 Qualifying Match vs Israel, November 16
• Euro 2020 Qualifying Match vs Slovenia, November 19

 Uganda
Michael Azira

• 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group B Match vs Burkina Faso, November 13
• 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group B Match vs Malawi, November 17

United States
U-23 Team
Djordje Mihailovic

• Friendly vs El Salvador, October 15
• United International Football Festival Semifinal Match vs Brazil, November 14
• United International Football Festival Third Place Match or Final vs United Gran Canaria, November 17

U-20 Team
Andre Reynolds II

• Friendly vs Mexico U-20, January 16
• Friendly vs Mexico U-20, January 18

U-17 Team
Gabriel Slonina

• UEFA Development Tournament match vs Spain, February 19
• UEFA Development Tournament match vs England, February 21
• UEFA Development Tournament match vs Denmark, February 24

U-16 Team
Gabriel Slonina

• 2019 NIKE International Friendly vs Netherlands, November 14
• 2019 NIKE International Friendly vs US U-17, November 16
• 2019 NIKE International Friendly vs Turkey, November 18

Note: Italics indicates player left after his first call up

• Official website