After waiting four games for his first opportunity to start, the Chicago Fire’s 2021 Team MVP picked up right where he left off against FC Dallas on Saturday.
In a steadfast 90 minutes, Federico Navarro stepped in and helped the team push it’s unbeaten run to five straight, and it’s clean sheet counter to four in a 0-0 draw at Soldier Field. Speaking to the media for the first time this season on Wednesday, the 22-year-old discussed his optimism coming out of his first full shift of the season.
“I felt really good,” Navarro said via Fire Communications Manager and translator Elizabeth Sanchez. “I was truly very happy for being able to finish out the game strong despite not having played for 90 minutes in a long time. You just have to keep working hard and to be able to be available for your team and for your coaching staff.”
Navarro picked up an injury late into the Fire’s preseason camp, which forced him out of consideration for the starting XI when the team began their season at Inter Miami on Feb. 26.
As the team went on to go unbeaten through the season’s first four matches, Hendrickson opted to roll with the same starting XI that had allowed just a single goal to that point and not risk disrupting the chemistry. That meant Gaston Giménez and Mauricio Pineda got the starting nods as the team’s midfield tandem in front of the defensive back line, while Navarro appeared as a second half substitution in three of the team’s first four games as he worked his way back to full fitness.
“I was very happy with the way the team was playing, but I was always hungry to be out there and to be playing again,” he said. “I always had the desire to be out there. That said, there wasn't any time for any sort of lamentation or regret. I had to be working at 100 percent so that I could be at my maximum effort and to be ready and available for my teammates and for the coaching staff.”
Fully healthy, Navarro was then a natural choice to be included in the lineup last weekend against FC Dallas when an opening was created by the absence of captain and center back Rafael Czichos, who missed the match due to health and safety protocols. Navarro slotted into the starting XI to replace Pineda in midfield, while Pineda moved back to partner with Wyatt Omsberg in central defense.
In rainy, difficult conditions at Soldier Field, Navarro won possession 16 times according to StatsPerform - a single-game high for all Fire players and five more than any player on the field against Dallas. The Fire kept their fourth clean sheet in five matches, and finished the weekend as one of three teams in MLS (LAFC, Philadelphia Union) that have yet to suffer a defeat.
“He was awesome for us,” Hendrickson said of Navarro. “He played the way we know Fede can play, and - had it not been for an injury the last couple weeks of preseason - he would have been starting from the get-go. But when you look at his physical loading and the ground he covered, it was just amazing. It was very high level, and that's what he brings to us.”
The Fire midfield’s ability to disrupt opponents and regain possession has no doubt contributed to the team having faced just 11 shots on target so far this season - the second-fewest faced in all of MLS. Navarro’s ball-winning instincts are a key part of how Hendrickson wants his team to play.
“We want to possess the ball, but part of possession is being able to win it back as quickly as possible when we do lose it,” he said. “[Navarro] brings that to the team when he's on the pitch. He gives us that ability to win the ball back as quickly as possible, and then going forward, also, he made some key passes. So, he's a very good player for us.”
With Navarro back in the fold, Hendrickson has three more-than-capable options he can deploy in deep-lying midfield on any given matchday. The level of competition among position groups has been a common emphasis during the team’s media availabilities this season, and that most certainly holds true among Navarro, Giménez, and Pineda.
While Navarro’s recovery total from last Saturday was eye-catching, Giménez leads the entire league in the category per match, averaging 11 possessions won so far this season (among those with at least three matches played). Pineda’s 6.6 per game average is the second-best on the team.
“I will always say that there is no competition that is as healthy as the one we have amongst ourselves,” Navarro said of Giménez and Pineda. “We are always happy for each other if someone plays well and if someone has a good game and if someone does things correctly, and we are here to support each other, and also to compete against each other so that we can continue to grow.”
Hendrickson noted on Wednesday’s call that the injury statuses for Czichos and midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri - who was subbed out of the match against Dallas after 18 minutes - remain day-to-day. That could give Navarro the opportunity to make his second-straight start in midfield when the Fire visit Orlando City SC on Saturday afternoon (12 p.m. CT - Univision, TUDN, Twitter).
Regardless of the circumstances, with his first 90-minute shift of the season now behind him, Navarro will look to continue providing the same tenacious presence in the center of the park that helped him make a significant impact after arriving late last season.
“We have to prepare ourselves for these types of situations and these types of moments, because this is football,” he said. It’s inevitable that these things will happen or do happen. Especially with having a player like Rafa, he's a big part of our back line, and Shaqiri, who is honestly a very important player, both of them are players that are very important to the team.”
“We miss them, but the team is going to be able to move beyond that, and be able to surpass any sort of adversity that we might face.”
October 7 vs Charlotte FC
Chicago Fire FC celebrated Fan Appreciation Night on October 7, 2023 to give back to our dedicated fans and their commitment throughout the season!
