BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- After experiencing a bruised ankle that has led to bone spurs, Chicago Fire defender Gonzalo Segares made his first start in 10 weeks Sunday, going 90 minutes in his side’s 1-1 home draw with the LA Galaxy.
Though he’s been back in the gameday 18 for a month, Segares admitted this week the bone spurs were still giving him a lot of pain that has led him to take injections prior to first team and reserve matches since returning.
Asked post-game how his ankle felt after a 90 minute run out, Segares joked, “It’s okay until the medicine goes away.”
"It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a while now, the bone spurs started growing after the injury I had. I’m glad we know what it is. With the injection it definitely helps me to be in the game and not have pain. It’s something that eventually we’ll get fixed.”
The veteran Costa Rican defender powered through the pain Sunday, working well with his backline mates Bakary Soumare, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Lovel Palmer to limit LA to just one shot on goal.
Unfortunately the one shot was the one goal LA needed to equalize when rookie midfielder Chris Ritter played an errant pass to Segares which Robbie Rogers intercepted. The Galaxy substitute strolled into the box, putting a low cross in for Landon Donovan who smashed his effort over Sean Johnson in the 74th minute.
The goal equalized the match just six minutes after captain Jeff Larentowicz converted his spot kick past Galaxy ‘keeper Jaime Penedo.
“It’s unfortunate that one play – I think the only look that we gave them – they took advantage of that. That’s Keane and Donovan,” he said. “I’ve worked with Baky for a long time and Jhon and Lovel have been playing there for a while now. We’ve played the whole preseason as well and I was very satisfied with how we did defensively.”
With the 90 minutes, Segares tied former teammate Chris Armas for fourth on the club’s all-time MLS appearance list with 214, a mark he likely would have hit months ago if not for the ankle injury.
“It’s an honor. Chris is a guy that helped me a lot when I came into this league. He’s a Fire legend. It’s not easy to stay at one club nowadays in MLS and I’ve been lucky enough and fortunate to be here for so long.”
With the upcoming World Cup break seeming a perfect time for Segares to get the bone spurs that are ailing him removed, he may hope to get at least one more appearance in the team’s next two matches at Colorado (June 4) and vs. Seattle (June 7) to tie third place Zach Thornton at 215.
