Chicago Fire FC drew Minnesota United FC 0-0 in a preseason friendly match on Saturday at Omni Resort at ChampionsGate.
The match was the first of four official friendlies on the Fire’s preseason slate, with the remaining three set to take place during the team’s second leg of camp in Austin, Texas.
New head coach Ezra Hendrickson deployed different lineups in each half, blending members of the Fire first team with players from the Chicago Fire FC Academy, 2022 MLS SuperDraft picks, and trialists that have been invited to camp.
Among the match’s highlights were a diving, reaction save from Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady that denied Minnesota a goal from close range in the 72nd minute and a direct free kick attempt from Homegrown forward Victor Bezerra that deflected off the post in the 83rd.
The Fire will next take on Toronto FC in a friendly at St. David’s Performance Center in Austin on Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. CT, followed by meetings with FC Dallas on Feb. 16 (11 a.m. CT) and Austin FC on Feb. 19 (12 p.m. CT). An update on live streams for those matches will be shared at a later date.
First half lineup:
Spencer Richey, Charlie Ostrem, Jonathan Bornstein, Wyatt Omsberg, Boris Sekulic, Federico Navarro, Mauricio Pineda, Fabian Herbers, Gaston Giménez, Stanislav Ivanov, Kacper Przybyłko
Second half lineup:
Chris Brady, Jhon Espinoza, Carlo Ritaccio, Yanis Leerman, Justin Reynolds, Sergio Oregel, Richard Fleming III, Josh Penn, Victor Bezerra, Alex Monis, Jhon Duran
75th minute substitutions:
Chinonso Offor, Michael Flores, Alexis Cerritos
