Fire advance to SuperLiga Semifinals

Blanco penalty kick pushes Chicago through, despite loss to Tigres UANL

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Midfielder Armando Pulido scored twice to give Tigres UANL a 2-1 victory Saturday, but Cuauhtemoc Blanco's penalty kick goal in the 85th minute allowed the Chicago Fire to advance to the semifinals of SuperLiga 2009.

The Fire entered the game knowing all they had to do was lose by less than two goals to advance, but it wasn't until Blanco's penalty kick after a foul against Patrick Nyarko that the Fire were safe from elimination.

Down 2-0, Nyarko was fouled inside the box by Pulido and Alejandro Villalobos, giving Blanco a chance to make up for the Fire's struggles over the first 85 minutes.

The Fire and Tigres ended Group A play with identical 2-1-0 records (6 points), but the Fire hold tiebreakers regardless of the result of the final game in Group A. Tigres had to await the outcome of the Chivas USA-San Luis game in Carson, Calif., Saturday night to know if they would advance. A San Luis win would give it a 2-1-0 record and it would advance due to goal differential (Chicago wins the group), but a tie or loss to Chivas would allow Tigres to win the group and advance.

Tigres, using a team of reserves and youth club players, had the advantage the entire night at Toyota Park, despite the fact Fire coach Denis Hamlett went with his best XI, with one exception.

Defender Bakary Soumare, who returned from Africa Tuesday after playing in World Cup qualifying matches for Mali, was on the substitutes' bench to start the game. With starting defender Gonzalo Segares unavailable due to Gold Cup preparations for the Costa Rica team, Hamlett called on Daniel Woolard and Austin Washington to fill in defensively.

It was Washington's hard rush to the goal that preserved the Fire's shutout in their last SuperLiga game against Chivas USA on Tuesday.

After taking a break in the last game, Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco and forward Brian McBride were back in the lineup as well.

Hamlett also pushed Tim Ward up to a holding midfielder position with Brandon Prideaux back at right back. Ward is expected to fill in at midfield for Logan Pause when Pause leaves to train with the U.S. national team next week in anticipation of the upcoming Gold Cup competition.

The game had a wild opening, as Tigres nearly took a quick 1-0 lead in the game's second minute, taking advantage of a very slow start by the Fire.

Villalobos wound up with the ball in the penalty area left of goal and slipped a pass to Juan Pablo Garcia in front of Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch, who had already come out after the ball. Garcia's touch approached the goal line but did not cross before being kicked out.

Blanco and Chris Rolfe each had shots on goal for the Fire in the first four minutes as well, but both went directly to Tigres 'keeper Enrique Palos.

In the 33rd minute, Garcia got a clear header off a corner kick but put it right at Busch. The Fire raced to the other end and McBride took a pass from Blanco, but ended up running into Palos before he could put a meaningful touch on the ball.

Tigres took a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute on a goal by Armando Pulido. The Mexican side made four passes around the top of the box, with Fire defenders failing to slow them up, before Javier Saavaedra slipped the ball to the middle of the box for an easy right-footed shot by Pulido past Busch.

There were no Fire substitutions at halftime, but Hamlett sent rookie Baggio Husidic into the game in the 58th minute in place of defender Brandon Prideaux. Tim Ward moved back to a defensive spot while Husidic played the midfield.

Pulido scored the second goal Tigres needed in the 61st minute on a brilliant counterattack that started after Blanco took a free kick from 23 yards out on the Fire's scoring end. The ball hit the wall, and Garcia beat two Fire players to the rebound and started the counter.

Garcia dribbled the ball far up field until he found Pulido, who then dribbled past Ward and Washington and was right on top of Busch for an easy touch goal.

Hamlett made a pair of attacking substitutions late. In the 71st minute, he inserted Nyarko into the game for Rolfe, then in the 77th minute, Justin Mapp entered the game for Marco Pappa.

It made all the difference shortly thereafter when Nyarko won the penalty that secured the Fire's qualification to the semis in their first SuperLiga appearance.

Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com.