The 2012 Chicago Fire season was the club's 14th year of existence, as well as their 15th season in Major League Soccer and their 15th consecutive year in the top-flight of American soccer.
The Fire began the regular season with a 1–1 tie on March 17, 2012 when they were hosted by the expansion team Montreal Impact in their first Major League Soccer home game. The Men in Red concluded the regular season hosting D.C. United at the Toyota Park on October 27, 2012.
The Fire qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the twelfth time in their fifteen competitive seasons and for the first time since 2009. The team was eliminated from the playoffs after a 1–2 home loss to Houston Dynamo in the Knockout Round match on October 31, 2012.
At the end of the season, Chicago Fire's defender, Austin Berry, has been awarded the 2012 MLS Rookie of the Year Award, while the club's captain Logan Pause has won the 2012 MLS Fair Play Award.
Squad at the end of the season As of October 31, 2012. Source: Chicago Fire Official Roster
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (aged) Previous club Goalkeepers 1 Jay Nolly GK Vancouver Whitecaps FC 25 Sean Johnson GK Atlanta Blackhawks 70 Paolo Tornaghi GK F.C. Internazionale Milano Defenders 3 Dan Gargan RB Toronto FC 5 Cory Gibbs CB New England Revolution 6 Jalil Anibaba CB Carolina Dynamo 13 Gonzalo Segares LB Apollon Limassol 20 Tony Walls RB University of Wisconsin–Green Bay 22 Austin Berry CB Louisville Cardinals 23 Arne Friedrich CB VfL Wolfsburg 28 Steven Kinney RB Carolina Dynamo 99 Hunter Jumper LB University of Virginia Cavaliers Midfielders 4 Álvaro Fernández M Seattle Sounders FC 11 Daniel Paladini M Carolina RailHawks FC 12 Logan Pause M North Carolina Tar Heels 15 Wells Thompson M Colorado Rapids 17 Pável Pardo M Club América 19 Corben Bone M Carolina Dynamo 21 Michael Videira M AC St. Louis 27 Victor Pineda M Chicago Fire Academy 71 Alex M FC Wohlen Forwards 7 Sherjill MacDonald F Beerschot AC 8 Dominic Oduro F Houston Dynamo 10 Guillermo Franco F Pachuca 14 Patrick Nyarko F Virginia Tech Hokies 18 Chris Rolfe F Aalborg BK 94 Kellen Gulley F Chicago Fire Academy
Player movement
Transfers
In DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubFee/notesRef December 5, 2011 Orr Barouch F Tigres de la UANL Purchased rights after loan, terms not disclosed December 5, 2011 Jay Nolly GK Vancouver Whitecaps FC Acquired in exchange for a first round selection in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft December 6, 2011 Logan Pause M Chicago Fire Extended the contract through 2013, terms not disclosed January 9, 2012 Rafael Robayo M Millonarios Signed, terms not disclosed January 11, 2012 Federico Puppo M Danubio F.C. Signed, terms not disclosed January 12, 2012 Austin Berry D University of Louisville Selected ninth overall in 2012 MLS SuperDraft, signed with MLS January 18, 2012 Pável Pardo M Chicago Fire Re-signed for a two-year contract, terms not disclosed January 24, 2012 Kheli Dube F New England Revolution Signed on as free agent after being selected in Stage Two of the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft on December 12, 2011 March 6, 2012 Hunter Jumper D University of Virginia Cavaliers Signed after being selected 28th overall in 2012 MLS SuperDraft, terms not disclosed March 7, 2012 Arne Friedrich D VfL Wolfsburg Signed, terms of the deal not disclosed March 7, 2012 Paolo Tornaghi GK F.C. Internazionale Milano Signed, terms of the deal not disclosed March 15, 2012 Tony Walls D University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Signed after being selected 47th overall in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft, terms not disclosed April 5, 2012 Patrick Nyarko F Chicago Fire Re-signed, terms and length not disclosed April 17, 2012 Chris Rolfe F Aalborg BK Reacquired, signed as a free agent, terms not disclosed April 26, 2012 Alex Monteiro de Lima M FC Wohlen Signed on a free transfer, terms not disclosed; was added to the roster upon the opening of the summer transfer window on June 27 July 24, 2012 Sherjill MacDonald F Beerschot AC Signed as a Designated Player, terms not disclosed July 27, 2012 Álvaro Fernández M Seattle Sounders FC Acquired as a Designated Player in return for allocation money, terms not disclosed September 10, 2012 Wells Thompson M Colorado Rapids Acquired in exchange for a conditional draft pick, terms not disclosed September 14, 2012 Guillermo Franco F Pachuca Signed on a free transfer, terms not disclosed
Out DatePlayerPositionDestination clubFee/notesRef December 2, 2011 Alec Dufty GK None Placed on Re-Entry list, was not selected in the Re-Entry Draft, became a free agent December 7, 2011 Cristian Nazarit F Deportivo Cali Released December 7, 2011 Gabriel Ferrari F None Released December 12, 2011 Jon Conway GK Los Angeles Galaxy Selected by Los Angeles Galaxy in the Re-Entry Draft; retired on January 10, 2012 December 12, 2011 Baggio Husidić M Hammarby IF Selected by Colorado Rapids in the Re-Entry Draft, declined and signed with the Swedish Hammarby IF January 15, 2012 Diego Cháves F C.D. Palestino Out of contract, signed with the Chilean C.D. Palestino January 23, 2012 Mike Banner M None Waived January 26, 2012 Josip Mikulić D None Returned to Croatia due to family issues January 26, 2012 Yamith Cuesta D UB Conquense Loan expired, loan agreement is not presently allowing to re-sign January 30, 2012 Wilman Conde D New York Red Bulls Free transfer after MLS rights were acquired by New York Red Bulls for allocation money March 11, 2012 Pari Pantazopoulos D None Waived June 26, 2012 Kheli Dube F None Waived June 27, 2012 Kwame Watson-Siriboe D Real Salt Lake Traded to Real Salt Lake in exchange for 4th round pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft August 30, 2012 Marco Pappa M SC Heerenveen Transferred effective immediately, terms not disclosed; previously announced on Aug 13 Pappa would be transferred at the end of the MLS 2012 season The following players selected by Chicago Fire in either the 2012 MLS SuperDraft or 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft were released during the pre-season trials: FW Evans Frimpong, Supplemental Draft round 1; GK Karl Woszczynski, Supplemental Draft round 1; MF Justin Chavez, Supplemental Draft round 4. FW Lucky Mkosana, SuperDraft round 2, entered the season but ultimately was not signed by the club.
Loans
In DatePlayerPositionLoaned fromFee/notesRef
Out DatePlayerPositionLoaned toFee/notesRef July 24, 2012 Federico Puppo F Defensor Sporting For the remainder of the season; terms not disclosed July 26, 2012 Rafael Robayo M Millonarios For the remainder of the season; terms not disclosed August 17, 2012 Sebastián Grazzini M Atlético de Rafaela For the remainder of the season; terms not disclosed September 13, 2012 Orr Barouch F Bnei Yehuda For the remainder of the season; terms not disclosed
Club staff
Standings Eastern Conference Table
Western Conference Table
Overall table
Results summary
Results by round
Match results
Pre-season Kickoff times are in CST.
Major League Soccer
Kickoff times are in CDT.
MLS Cup Playoffs
Kickoff times are in CDT.
U.S. Open Cup
Kickoff times are in CDT.
International friendlies Kickoff times are in CDT.
Recognition
Kits
Type Shirt Shorts Socks First appearance / Info Home Red / White lettering Red Red Away Navy / White lettering Navy Navy Away Special Navy / Pink lettering Navy Pink MLS, October 27 against D.C. United
Leading scorers RankScorerGoalsAssists1 Chris Rolfe832 Marco Pappa653 Dominic Oduro634 Patrick Nyarko475 Sherjill MacDonald446 Gonzalo Segares317 Austin Berry308 Sebastián Grazzini259 Daniel Paladini2210 Álvaro Fernández2111 Alex2012 Pável Pardo1413 Jalil Anibaba1114 Arne Friedrich10 Logan Pause1016 Sean Johnson01 Federico Puppo01 Dan Gargan01 Updated to match played on October 27, 2012.Source: MLSsoccer.com statistics - 2012 Chicago Fire
MLS Team of the Week WeekPlayerPositionReport3 Marco PappaMFReport7 Patrick NyarkoFWReport9 Austin BerryDFReport Marco PappaMF16 Sean JohnsonGKReport 17 Sean JohnsonGKReport Arne FriedrichDF19 Austin BerryDFReport 23 Arne FriedrichDFReport Chris RolfeFW24 Chris RolfeFWReport 26 Arne FriedrichDFReport Patrick NyarkoMF28 Jalil AnibabaFWReport Álvaro FernándezMF Frank KlopasCoach29 Chris RolfeFWReport 31 Arne FriedrichDFReport Sherjill MacDonaldFW33 Patrick NyarkoMFReport
MLS Player of the Week Week Player Report28 Sean JohnsonPOTW
MLS Save of the Week Week Player Save Report4 Paolo Tornaghi65'SOTW10 Sean Johnson43'SOTW21 Sean Johnson59'SOTW
MLS Goal of the Week Week Player Goal Report8 Marco Pappa89'GOTW
MLS Fair Play Award Chicago Fire's midfielder and captain, Logan Pause, has been awarded the league's 2012 Fair Play Award. Over the course of 32 matches played this season, Pause has accumulated only 11 fouls and no yellow or red cards.
MLS Rookie of the Year Chicago Fire's defender Austin Berry, selected number nine overall in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, has been awarded the league's 2012 Rookie of the Year Award. Berry has started in 28 games and scored three goals, one in his debut match. Berry collected the most votes in all three categories: players, media and club management.
Miscellany
Allocation ranking Chicago is in the #9 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.2011 MLS Roster Rules Major League Soccer
International roster slots Chicago has 8 MLS International Roster Slots for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots. No slot trades involving Chicago have been reported.
Future draft pick trades Future picks acquired: *2014 MLS SuperDraft round 4 pick from Real Salt Lake. Future picks traded: *2013 MLS Supplemental Draft round 1 pick to Vancouver Whitecaps FC. At the time of the trade, this pick was equivalent to a round 3 SuperDraft selection.
MLS rights to other players It is believed Chicago maintains the MLS rights to Carlos Bocanegra and Freddie Ljungberg, as each of these players declined contract offers by the club and signed overseas on free transfers.
References